Opinion ID: 3043524
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: smith’s trial and verdict

Text: On May 22, 1998, a Mobile County grand jury indicted Smith for capital murder, charging that Smith intentionally killed Van Dam during a first-degree robbery. The case went to trial. At trial, Dr. Julia Goodin, a forensic pathologist, testified that Van Dam died as a result of 35 different blunt-force injuries to his body. Id. Dr. Goodin found marks on Van Dam’s neck, shoulder, and back that were consistent with Van Dam 4 Case: 14-10721 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 5 of 39 being cut by a saw. Id. Van Dam had a large hemorrhage beneath his scalp, brain swelling, multiple rib fractures, a collapsed lung, abrasions to his head and knees, and defensive wounds on his hands. Id. The most immediate cause of death was probably Van Dam’s multiple rib fractures, which caused one lung to collapse. Id. The prosecution introduced Smith’s two statements to police and called Russell Harmon, who saw Smith on the day of the murder at a motel in Mobile County. See id. at 796–97. Harmon testified that Smith told him that Smith and Reid were going to rob Van Dam, and Smith asked if Harmon wanted to join them. See id. at 797. Harmon declined. Id. When Smith returned to the motel later that night, Smith admitted to Harmon that he participated in the beating of Van Dam and cut Van Dam with a saw before fleeing the crime scene—and leaving Van Dam for dead. Id. Smith told Harmon that he hid Van Dam’s tools on the side of a road, and Smith asked Harmon to retrieve them. Harmon did. Smith sold the tools for $200. Id. Joey Warner, an employee of a pawnshop, testified that (1) on November 23, 1997, Smith pawned several tools, including saws, drills, and a router; (2) Smith was given $200 for the tools; and (3) Smith showed his Alabama Department of Corrections identification card to complete the transaction. Id. Another witness, Melissa Arthurs, testified that she saw Smith on the night Van Dam disappeared and noticed blood on Smith’s shirt. Id. Smith told Arthurs 5 Case: 14-10721 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 6 of 39 that he hit, cut, and stabbed Van Dam in the back; he and Reid robbed Van Dam; and Smith would have taken Van Dam’s truck had it not been stuck in the mud.2 See id. On September 16, 1998, the jury found Smith guilty of capital murder. The penalty phase began the next day.