Case Against Bloomfield Four Dismissed
Morse’s Second Trial Ends in a Hung Jury
LELDF Supports Program for Collegiates
Stephanie Mohr Seeks New Trial
Florida Narcotics Chief Convicted
Scott Smith Case is Settled
Officer Scott Smith
After a six-year ordeal for a case dating back to 1998, Officer pled “no contest” to a misdemeanor charge of criminal negligence in the fatal shooting of Franklyn Reid. Scott Smith, who wished to return to law enforcement but was worn out by six years of litigation, agreed to an offer by the prosecuting attorney that he would never again work as a police officer. He received a one-year suspended sentence and two years of unsupervised probation.In his first trial, Scott Smith, now 31, had received a sentence of 12 years for the “intentional manslaughter” of Franklyn Reid.
In 2002, the Connecticut Court of Appeals overturned Smith’s July 2001 guilty conviction because the trial judge had not allowed expert witnesses to testify about police training in the authorized use of deadly force and on the proper law regarding police self-defense.
Franklyn Reid was a notorious criminal who had boasted that he would never be taken alive. He had stabbed his own uncle, had threatened to kill the mother of his children, and had tried to knife two other police officers.
On December 29, 1998, Officer Scott Smith answered a call for back-up and single-handedly began to chase Franklyn Reid up a busy street. Smith knew that Reid was extremely dangerous and probably armed. Smith tackled Reid and told him to kneel and to put his hands in the air. Reid knelt but then reached for a knife that was concealed in his jacket.
Fearing that Reid had a gun, Smith fired one shot from his service revolver, which severed Reid’s spine and killed him instantly. Smith was subsequently charged with murder by the state prosecutor investigating the homicide. This is the only time that Smith had ever discharged his weapon in the line of duty.
LELDF supported Scott Smith from the beginning of his ordeal in 1998 through the appeals and the plea agreement. While the legal battles are over, it is regrettable that Scott Smith was forced to leave the profession he loved. To view additional photos and more information on Scott Smith, see our website www.leldf.com.
