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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Child Endangerment |
Sentence: |
10 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
4.17 |
Year Crime: |
2006 |
Year Convicted: |
2007 |
Year Cleared: |
2011 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Iowa |
County or Region of Crime: |
Humboldt |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Tammy Lynn Smith was wrongly convicted on June 1, 2007 of child endangerment related to an arm injury on January 24, 2006 to her 4-year-old son Gabriel. Smith's family lived in Humboldt County, Iowa when on January 24, 2006 Smith took Gabriel to see a doctor because his right arm appeared to be injured. X-rays showed he had three fractures of his right arm and he had a dislocated shoulder. In November 2006 Smith was charged with child endangerment. During Smith's trial she didn't testify, and physicians who treated Gabriel testified his injuries were consistent with being caused by significant force or leverage applied to Gabriel's arm. After the jury convicted Smith she was sentenced to an indeterminate prison term not to exceed ten years. Two weeks after Smith's conviction her lawyer filed a motion for a new trial based on the newly-discovered evidence that had not previously been available to the defense, which was that Bradley Anderson of the Youth Shelter in Council Bluffs, Iowa where Gabriel was living, reported Gabriel verbally told him he broke his arm in the washing machine. Smith's trial judge denied the motion on July 18, 2007, ruling that since Smith and her husband had told people they thought Gabriel broke his arm in their malfunctioning washing machine his statement confirming their suspicion wasn't new evidence. Smith's conviction was affirmed in August 2008 by the Iowa Court of Appeals. In April 2009 Smith filed a post-conviction petition for a new trial alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and that her son's statement about being injured by the washing machine was new evidence warranting a new trial. An evidentiary hearing was held in April 2010, and on May 11, 2010 the trial court denied her petition. On April 27, 2011 the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's ruling and granted Smith's petition on the basis her son's statement was new evidence. The Court's ruling stated in part: "Gabriel's testimony explaining the cause of his injuries is material in that if believed, shows the circumstances surrounding the injury and it disproves the State's theory that the injury occurred because Tammy, in a knowing but unexplained manner, exerted substantial force on the child's arm. Furthermore, with the child's testimony there is a reasonable likelihood that the result of the trial would be different. The State's case relied heavily on the fact Tammy was alone with the child when the injury occurred and she gave conflicting stories of how the injury happened. ... Tammy's trial attorney testified he didn't believe the State had good evidence to convict Tammy and that it was a huge mistake on his part not to use the washing machine theory as a reasonable explanation of what happened. REVERSED AND REMANDED." (Smith v. State, No. 1-028/10-1020 (Iowa Ct of Appeals, 4-27-2011)) The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to dismissed the charge against Smith which was granted on September 8, 2011, and she was released. On November 21, 2011 Smith filed a petition for wrongful imprisonment compensation under Iowa Code chapter 663A. The District Court judge ruled after holding a hearing that because of Smith's lack of credibility from having told five different accounts of how Gabriel's injuries may have occurred, she had not established by clear and convincing evidence that the child endangerment offense was not committed by her or by anyone else. Smith appealed. On May 30, 2011 the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's ruling by a majority 2-1 vote, and dismissed her appeal. The Court's ruling stated in part: "Smith has not proved by clear and convincing evidence she could not have been found guilty of failing to properly supervise the child." Smith v. State, No. 3-234/12-1771 (Iowa Ct of Appeals, 5-30-2013) The dissenter, Justice Vaitheswaran wrote: "Based on this record, I would conclude that Smith established her innocence. With the postconviction testimony of her son and counselor and her own testimony at the chapter 663A hearing, she "affirmatively answer[ed] . . . doubts and questions" about her role in the incident."" |
Conviction Caused By: |
The prosecution failed to disclose an exculpatory statement by her son. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On April 27, 2011 the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's ruling and granted Smith's petition on the basis her son's statement was new evidence." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
Denied by State of Iowa |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
33 |
Age When Released: |
37 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Smith v. State, No. 1-028/10-1020 (Iowa Ct of Appeals, 4-27-2011)" |
Information Location 1: |
"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18118995150301887385&q=tammy+smith&hl=en&as_sdt=4,16" |
Information Source 2: |
"Smith v. State, No. 3-234/12-1771 (Iowa Ct of Appeals, 5-30-2013)" |
Information Location 2: |
"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3240667219596356819&q=tammy+smith&hl=en&as_sdt=4,16" |
Information Source 3: |
"Smith v. State, No. 8-523/07-1406 (Iowa Ct of Appeals, 8-27-2008)" |
Information Location 3: |
"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16395879589944667070&q=tammy+smith&hl=en&as_sdt=4,16" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org