In 2007 Sonya and Joseph Smith were tried for felony murder in connection with the 2003 death of their 8-year-old son, Josef, who medical examiners said was beaten and deprived of food and water. The trial was highly publicized, partly due to the Smiths' membership in the Remnant Fellowship, a Christian sect that stresses corporal punishment and dietary restrictions.
During closing arguments, which were broadcast on Court TV, the prosecution decided to put on a show. Here's how it was described in a Georgia Supreme Court opinion (PDF) released last week:
The prosecutor, in the final moments of her concluding argument on behalf of the State, "clicked" her fingers, at which signal one of the deputies in the courtroom turned out the lights and an associate prosecutor "popped out a cake out of a grocery bag" complete with eight candles, which were then lit with a lighter brought into the courtroom; the prosecutor and her associate then proceeded to sing to "dear Josef," i.e., the deceased victim, the celebratory words to "Happy Birthday."
The Georgia Supreme Court did not find that the theatrics prejudiced the jury to the point where the Smiths, who were convicted and sentenced to life plus 30 years, deserve another trial. Nor did the majority find that the defense attorney's failure to object amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel. But both the majority opinion and the dissent did condemn the prosecutor. The majority called the tactic "theatrical," "preposterous," and "highly inappropriate." Dissenting Chief Justice Carol Hunstein was even harsher:
The prosecutor's birthday production was not meant to be argument or rebuttal: it was a theatrical stunt spun out of pure fantasy. Its sole purpose was to prejudice the rights of appellants before the jury in an impermissible attempt to invoke the jury's passions and divert the jury from the evidence. It offended the dignity and decorum of the court and violated every precept of professionalism and fair play. Yet the trial court did absolutely nothing. The event played itself out without the trial judge performing his duty to maintain decorum in the courtroom.
It was an assistant district attorney—an officer of the court and a representative of the State of Georgia—who debased the dignity and respect of these criminal proceedings. Rather than "adher[ing] to the highest standards of professionalism and proper courtroom decorum," this prosecutor embarrassed every member of our profession with her behavior. The uncontroverted evidence of the events orchestrated by the prosecutor and performed in front of the jury with the tacit permission of the trial court establishes conclusively that the prosecutor did not concern herself with appellants' right to a fair trial. She cared only to win at any cost without regard to how unfair, how undignified, how disrespectful her actions were.
Attorney Danny Lampley, 49, was taken into custody Wednesday morning after Chancellor Talmadge Littlejohn cited him for criminal contempt of court for failing to recite the 31-word pledge at the outset of the morning’s proceedings at the Lee County courthouse.
