Opinion ID: 2782886
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Walter Smith

Text: Everett’s trial counsel, Smith, testified regarding his extensive legal experience and his pre-trial investigation of mitigation factors in Everett’s case. 11 At the time of the 2008 evidentiary hearing before the 3.851 court, Smith had been an attorney for twenty-eight years, including around fifteen years with the Public Defender’s Office. He represented defendants in forty-one first-degree murder trials, twenty of which were death penalty cases. Four of his clients received death sentences, two of which were upheld by the Florida Supreme Court. Smith had never used co-counsel, but he did utilize an investigator. Most of Smith’s defendants suffered from some kind of mental health issue, and based on consultations with psychologists, Smith was “pretty dead on” in recognizing and identifying potential mental health issues in his clients.