Picture Supply: YouTube consumer Netflix
Discrepancies within the legal justice system are on full show in Netflix’s true-crime documentary “State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith,” which examines the components surrounding Brittany Smith’s 2020 trial for the homicide of Todd Smith.
Brittany garnered nationwide consideration when she was charged with fatally capturing Todd in January 2018 however claimed that she did so in self-defense. After relentlessly combating for a Stand Your Floor listening to, which might grant her immunity if she might show that she believed she was in imminent hazard when she pulled the set off, she misplaced. If convicted, Brittany would’ve confronted as much as 25 years in jail for her crime, however that wasn’t the top of her story.
Listed below are the true particulars behind “State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith.”
Who Is Brittany Smith?
To start with of the brand new yr in 2018, Brittany lived in a four-bedroom home in Stevenson, AL. On the time, she was recovering from substance use dysfunction and was working towards getting custody of her 4 youngsters once more, as reported by The New Yorker. In January 2018, she obtained a pet named Athena from an acquaintance, Todd. In each method, her life was wanting upward, however a sequence of harrowing occasions would change the course of her life as she knew it.
The Demise of Todd Smith
Sooner or later after getting her pet from Todd, he referred to as her asking to be picked up from the native park. Brittany had her reservations, however for the reason that snowy climate was intense on the time, she went along with her brother, Chris McCallie, to get him. McCallie dropped off the 2 at Brittany’s home not lengthy after, and in keeping with Brittany, she and Todd made small dialog about their mutual struggles with habit, which quickly took a flip for the more severe. In response to Brittany, when discussing her street to restoration, she informed Todd to “get his priorities collectively,” as she had been in a position to safe a brand new job and have the potential of getting her youngsters again, per The New Yorker. She says he took offense to this and assumed Brittany was being condescending, which despatched him right into a rage. In response to Brittany, he cursed at her, head-butted her, and chased her into her bed room, the place he strangled her unconscious and sexually assaulted her repeatedly.
After the alleged assault, Brittany says, Todd threatened to kill her and her household if she informed anybody about what occurred. She says he then requested cigarettes, and a terrified Brittany referred to as her mom, Ramona, in hopes of getting a experience to the native comfort retailer. Ramona despatched McCallie over to get the 2 as a substitute, they usually went to get the cigarettes. On the retailer, Brittany was utterly matted: her hair was tangled, a few of her fingernails have been gone, and she or he had seen markings on her physique. She left a observe with the shop’s employee naming Todd because the individual accountable for attacking her however pleaded with them to not name the police in concern of potential repercussions.
When McCallie dropped the 2 again off once more, Brittany informed him to speak to the shop employee she left the observe with. He did and instantly returned to her home with a gun, ordering Todd to go away. When Todd refused, they obtained right into a scuffle, and Todd put McCallie in a headlock in an try to choke him. Brittany yelled for Todd to cease, however he would not let up, so she fired a shot from McCallie’s gun. The scuffle continued, and she or he shot twice extra, this time putting Todd. As she was on the cellphone with a 911 operator, she carried out CPR on Todd, however by the point police arrived, he was useless.
The Highway to Trial
As authorities have been investigating the scene, a rape equipment was performed, and the report confirmed 33 wounds on Brittany’s physique, which included “bruises on her neck, breasts, arms, legs, and pelvis, chew marks on her neck and chin,” together with proof of strangulation and secretions on and inside her physique, in keeping with The New Yorker. When questioned by the police, Brittany initially informed them that it was McCallie, not her, who’d killed Todd, in concern that her story and motive for killing him wouldn’t be taken significantly. The next day, nonetheless, she confessed to the killing, was arrested, and was held on the Jackson County Jail on a $100,00 bond, in keeping with The Attraction.
Whereas she was in jail and ready to put up bond, Brittany struggled along with her psychological well being. She was identified with nervousness and prescribed Xanax, which she was not given whereas in jail, and had a nervous breakdown in consequence. In April 2018, Ramona was in a position to put up her bail with the assistance of two individuals who used their houses as collateral. Brittany’s launch instantly sparked rumors round city, which ranged from her having a romantic relationship with Todd to the entire thing being a drug deal gone mistaken. She was agency in clearing her title, nonetheless, and sought to have a Stand Your Floor listening to to show she was performing in self-defense when she killed Todd.
The street to her listening to was not straightforward. Per the request of her state-appointed lawyer, James Mick, Brittany was psychologically evaluated by a state psychologist to find out her frame of mind when she killed Todd and her competency to face a correct trial. The objective was to show that her psychological state was considerably impaired and thus safe a plea of not responsible by motive of madness, which she strongly disagreed with. The analysis decided she was not competent to face trial and she or he was sentenced to remain at Bryce Hospital, a psychological hospital, for 90 days.
In December 2019, she lastly had her Stand Your Floor listening to scheduled for January 2020, and after it was heard by Jackson County Circuit Choose Jenifer Holt, she misplaced. Her legal trial was scheduled for November 2020, however because it approached, Brittany pleaded responsible to Todd’s homicide in change for a 20-year sentence only a month prior in October 2020, as reported by Alabama.com.
The place Is Brittany Smith At the moment?
Regardless of initially being sentenced to serve 20 years in jail, Brittany served 18 months in jail and was launched in Might 2021. Upon her launch, she was additionally ordered to serve an extra 18 months of home arrest. Following her home arrest, Brittany might be on supervised probation for 5 years as effectively.
At the moment, she is targeted on shedding gentle on her story and reforming the legal justice system so others, particularly victims of abuse, would not have to endure the identical trauma. “After the tough waters, clean crusing,” she informed Alabama.com
See the harrowing story of Brittany in Netflix’s “State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith,” streaming now on Netflix.
