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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Stalking |
Sentence: |
12 months probation |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2017 |
Year Convicted: |
2018 |
Year Cleared: |
2019 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Kansas |
County or Region of Crime: |
Douglas |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Lisa A. Smith was wrongly convicted in 2018 of stalking her neighbor in Douglas County, Kansas in November 2017. Smith's prosecution was based on her neighbor obtaining a protection from stalking order in June 2017 that prohibited her from making "disparaging statements in public regarding plaintiff [her neighbor] being a child molester," after she had accused him in 2016 and 2017 of sexual misconduct with her child. "In November 2017, Smith, while entering her residence, turned toward her husband who was standing in their driveway and said, "come inside away from the pedophile." Smith made that statement loudly enough that Perez and his family heard it from their home across the street." Lisa Smith was charged with violating the PFS. Lisa Smith agreed to a bench (judge only) trial based on stipulated facts. The judge rejected her argument the PFS order was unconstitutional because it constituted prior-restraint of her right to free speech. After her conviction Smith was sentenced to 12 months probation. Smith appealed. Smith argued the PFS was an unconstitutional prior-restraint of her non-threatening free speech, while the State argued "Smith's speech is not entitled to First Amendment protection because it was "almost certainly defamatory."" On September 27, 2019 the Kansas Court of Appeals reversed Lisa Smith's conviction on the basis the PFS order was an unconstitutional prior-retraint of her protected right to free speech. The Court ruled: "1. The State fails to show that Smith's slanderous statement is unprotected. ... 2. The State fails to show that Smith's statement was false. ... 3. The State fails to show that Smith's statement was knowingly false. ... 4. The State fails to show that Smith's statement damaged Perez' reputation. ... IV. THE PFS ORDER IS A CONTENT-BASED RESTRICTION ... V. THE STATE FAILS TO SHOW THAT THE PFS ORDER SERVES A COMPELLING INTEREST ... The State has shown no compelling interest in prohibiting, via the protection from stalking statute, non-threatening speech that does not subject the hearer to a reasonable fear of physical harm. Nor has the State shown that this PFS order's prohibition on speech that poses no threat of physical harm is narrowly tailored to serve any compelling state interest. We thus find the PFS order, as applied, is an improper prior restraint of Smith's constitutional right to freedom of speech. Accordingly, we reverse the conviction and vacate Smith's sentence." (All quotes from: State of Kansas v. Lisa A. Smith, No. 119,919 (Kansas Court of Appeals, 9-27-2019))" |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On September 27, 2019 the Kansas Court of Appeals reversed Lisa Smith's conviction on the basis protected free speech is excluded from being a violation of the state's stalking law." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
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Information Source 1: |
"State of Kansas v. Lisa A. Smith, No. 119,919 (Kansas Court of Appeals, 9-27-2019) (Reversing conviction based on her constitutionally protected free speech did not constitute a violation of the state stalking statute.)" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/opinions/CtApp/2019/20190927/119919.pdf |
Information Source 2: |
"State of Kansas v. Lisa A. Smith, No. 119,919 (Kansas Court of Appeals, 9-27-2019) (Reversing conviction based on her constitutionally protected free speech did not constitute a violation of the state stalking statute.)" |
Information Location 2: |
https://law.justia.com/cases/kansas/court-of-appeals/2019/119919.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Kansas court: Stalking order violated woman's speech rights, By Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, September 28, 2019" |
Information Location 3: |
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/crime/article/Kansas-court-Stalking-order-violated-woman-s-14475343.php |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org