Pamela Smart Seeks New Trial as Legal Battle Continues

In Concord, N.H., the legal team for Pamela Smart is pushing for a new trial. Smart, serving a life sentence for her role in the murder of her husband, filed a petition for a new trial. Lawyers hope a New Hampshire judge will permit this latest petition to proceed.

Smart’s 1990 trial was a landmark in being broadcasted live from start to finish. At 22, she was a high school media coordinator having an affair with a teenage student. This student, 15-year-old William Flynn, fatally shot her husband, Gregory Smart, in Derry. Flynn served 25 years and was released in 2015. Despite denying involvement in the murder plot, Smart was convicted as an accomplice to first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.

The petition, filed under habeas corpus relief in January, challenges her conviction based on alleged constitutional violations. Smart, now 58, will attend the hearing remotely from a New York correctional facility.

Pamela Smart during a 2010 interview at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in New York. Photo via WMUR Television/AP file.

Defense Claims Transcripts Were Inaccurate

Smart’s lawyers argue the prosecution misled jurors with inaccurate transcripts of recorded conversations involving Smart. These transcripts allegedly contained words not audible in the original recordings, such as “killed” and “murder.”

Matthew Zernhelt, her attorney, stated, Modern science confirms what common sense has always told us: when people are handed a script, they inevitably hear the words they are shown. Jurors were not evaluating the recordings independently; they were being directed toward a conclusion, and that direction decided the verdict.

They further argue the verdict was influenced by media attention and flawed jury instructions. Jurors were reportedly instructed to find Smart acted with premeditation and only consider trial evidence. The defense contends her mandatory life sentence for being an accomplice is not required under New Hampshire law.

State’s Response to the Petition

Attorneys for New Hampshire have requested the judge dismiss Smart’s petition, citing that most claims were already addressed or could have been raised during previous appeals with the state Supreme Court. They stated the defense’s only prior concern related to errors in the recording transcripts failing to account for voice overlaps. Jurors were directed to rely on what they heard if discrepancies arose.

The state Supreme Court found no specific evidence of inaccuracies in the transcripts that may have prejudiced Smart. Additionally, claims regarding ineffective counsel and trial location remain unproven according to the state’s lawyers.

Smart’s attempts for sentence reduction have failed in the past. Her petitions were consistently rejected by a state council responsible for court and agency appointments. After one rejection reached the Supreme Court, it dismissed her case again in 2023.

A renewed petition followed the denial from New Hampshire’s Governor Kelly Ayotte to reconsider her case in 2022. Ayotte reviewed Smart’s case and decided not to intervene.

Smart Admits Responsibility in Video

In 2024, Smart admitted responsibility for her husband’s death during a video statement. She reflected on previously shifting blame as a way of coping.

Smart’s trial attracted vast media attention and is remembered as one of the early high-profile cases involving a school employee and student affair. Flynn testified that Smart encouraged him to kill her husband to avoid losing everything in a divorce and threatened their relationship as leverage. Flynn and three other teens cooperated with the prosecution and were released after serving their sentences.

Flynn, along with Patrick Randall, entered the Smart home and subdued Gregory at gunpoint. Flynn then shot him in the head. The teens pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, receiving sentences of 28 years to life, but gained parole in 2015. Two additional teenagers also served time and were released.

The case inspired the book “To Die For” by Joyce Maynard and a 1995 film adaptation starring Nicole Kidman and Joaquin Phoenix.