GUILTY *DEATH PENALTY* FL - Cherish Perrywinkle, 8, abducted and killed, Jacksonville, June 2013 *GRAPHIC* #6

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Smith claims his attorneys failed to object when prosecutors played for jurors the panicked 911 call from the missing girl’s mother; failed to object to “digitally altered” surveillance footage highlighting Smith’s movements at the Walmart; and failed to adequately inform Smith of the consequences when he instructed them not to cross-examine the child’s mother.

The motion says the attorneys also failed in allowing a “biased” juror to be seated and a mental health expert to testify that Smith was “the most dangerous pedophile she had ever met.”

Smith was expected to appear in court for multiple days this week with new attorneys, raising the possibility that his previous attorneys could be called to the stand to defend themselvers.

Instead, one of Smith’s three new attorneys withdrew from the case. No reason was given in court, according to News4Jax, a Jacksonville Today partner.

The judge postponed the hearing until Jan. 16, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
jaxtoday.org

Hearing delayed in murder of Cherish Perrywinkle - Jacksonville Today

A court hearing for Donald Smith has been postponed until January after one of his attorneys resigned over the weekend.
jaxtoday.org jaxtoday.org
 
Tuesday, January 16th:
*Case Management Hearing (re Appeal) (@ 9am ET) - FL - Cherish Perrywinkle (8) (June 21, 2013, Jacksonville. Investigators found that Smith abducted Cherish by luring her into his van at a Northside Walmart. Smith was later arrested on Interstate 95 shortly before Cherish was found in a creek.) - *Donald James Smith (56 @ time of crime/now 67) – indicted (6/21/13) & found guilty (8/13/18) (juror took only 14 minutes) of 1st degree murder, kidnapping & rape. Jurors unanimously recommended death penalty.
8/13/18: On the day before Smith was to be sentenced in the 2013 kidnap, rape & murder of 8-year-old Cherish, his lawyers filed a motion seeking a new penalty phase. Sentenced by Judge Mallory Cooper: Count 3 (rape) - Life in Prison; Count 2 (kidnapping) - Life in Prison; Count 1 (murder) – Death
In 2020, the Florida Supreme Court took up an appeal from Smith, who asked for a new trial. In April 2021, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously upheld Smith’s conviction & death sentence. Smith is again appealing his case and a case management conference is set for 7/24/23. 7/24/23 Update: Monday Senior Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper agreed to grant a hearing on Smith's post-conviction claims that his original trial attorneys were ineffective. Monday’s status hearing was to determine whether a full evidentiary hearing, including sworn testimony from Smith’s trial attorneys, should be held at a later date. The judge agreed a hearing was required & set it for 12/4/23.
Court info from 8/31/18 thru 6/21/23 reference post #134 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...-jacksonville-6-21-13-6-graphic.366513/page-7
7/24/23 Update: Monday a judge agreed to grant a hearing on Smith's post-conviction claims that his original trial attorneys were ineffective. Smith didn't appear in court. However, attorneys handling his post-conviction process told Senior Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper the hearing was required. “Defendants are entitled to a trial,” Smith’s attorney Ann Marie Mirialakis told Cooper, who presided over the 2018 death penalty trial. “You are entitled to something more than a licensed attorney sitting at a table.” However, Sheila Loizos, director of the State Attorney’s Office’s legal division, argued that decision was made by Smith. He instructed his attorneys not to question Rayne Perrywinkle; they simply followed his instructions. “Smith was convicted on video & DNA evidence, and not whether a fairly minor witness was not cross-examined at his request,” Loizos said. She called the evidence against Smith “overwhelming.” Monday’s status hearing was to determine whether a full evidentiary hearing, including sworn testimony from Smith’s trial attorneys, should be held at a later date. The judge agreed a hearing was required & set it for 12/4/23. That hearing is expected to last at least a day.
12/4/23 Update: Judge Mallory Cooper presiding. Asst. State attorney Mark Caliel, attorney for defendant Ann Marie Mirialakis & defendant present in jail. Others present: Michael Hope-PA. Evidentiary hearing continued on 1/16/24 @ 9am & possibly on Wednesday, 1/17 & on Thursday, 1/18/24. The court hearing for Smith was postponed until January after one of his attorneys resigned over the weekend. See article post #141 for more info.
 
BUF said:
www.news4jax.com

Lawyers for Donald Smith focus on jury selection as he appeals conviction for 2013 rape, murder of 8-year-old girl

Donald Smith, the man convicted and sentenced to death in the murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle, will be back in court Tuesday morning for an evidentiary hearing as he continues to push for a new trial under the claims that his counsel in his 2018 trial was ineffective.
www.news4jax.com www.news4jax.com
Click to expand...

So, he almost pleaded guilty prior to jury selection for his trial.
And he thinks he should have been institutionalised so he wouldn't have harmed Cherish.


"It was also revealed in court on Tuesday that Smith wanted the court process to last as long as possible and Schlax said on the morning of jury selection he came very close to pleading guilty.

At one point during the trial, the attorneys said Smith thought his case would start a movement for people who were victims of a failed system because he should’ve been institutionalized before he could commit crimes against Perrywinkle. He also feared being in the general population because of his crimes."
 
Last edited:
Wednesday, January 17th:
*Evidentiary Hearing (Day 2) (re Appeal) (@ 9am ET) - FL - Cherish Perrywinkle (8) (June 21, 2013, Jacksonville. Investigators found that Smith abducted Cherish by luring her into his van at a Northside Walmart. Smith was later arrested on Interstate 95 shortly before Cherish was found in a creek.) - *Donald James Smith (56 @ time of crime/now 67) – indicted (6/21/13) & found guilty (8/13/18) (juror took only 14 minutes) of 1st degree murder, kidnapping & rape. Jurors unanimously recommended death penalty.
8/13/18: On the day before Smith was to be sentenced in the 2013 kidnap, rape & murder of 8-year-old Cherish, his lawyers filed a motion seeking a new penalty phase. Sentenced by Judge Mallory Cooper: Count 3 (rape) - Life in Prison; Count 2 (kidnapping) - Life in Prison; Count 1 (murder) – Death
In 2020, the Florida Supreme Court took up an appeal from Smith, who asked for a new trial. In April 2021, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously upheld Smith’s conviction & death sentence. Smith is again appealing his case and a case management conference is set for 7/24/23. 7/24/23 Update: Monday Senior Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper agreed to grant a hearing on Smith's post-conviction claims that his original trial attorneys were ineffective. Monday’s status hearing was to determine whether a full evidentiary hearing, including sworn testimony from Smith’s trial attorneys, should be held at a later date. The judge agreed a hearing was required & set it for 12/4/23.
Court info from 8/31/18 thru 7/24/23 reference post #147 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...-jacksonville-6-21-13-6-graphic.366513/page-8
12/4/23 Update: Judge Mallory Cooper presiding. Asst. State attorney Mark Caliel, attorney for defendant Ann Marie Mirialakis & defendant present in jail. Others present: Michael Hope-PA. Evidentiary hearing continued on 1/16/24 @ 9am & possibly on Wednesday, 1/17 & on Thursday, 1/18/24. The court hearing for Smith was postponed until January after one of his attorneys resigned over the weekend. See article post #141 for more info.
1/16/24 Update: Smith was in court for an evidentiary hearing as he continues to push for a new trial. Smith claims that his counsel was ineffective in his 2018 trial, which ended in his conviction for the rape & murder of Cherish. In a 78-page appeal from 2023, Smith’s attorneys argued that many errors were made in his trial that led to the penalty phase where he was sentenced to death. They said that his original conviction wasn’t valid because his former lawyers failed to remove a biased juror & failed to object to a 911 call & “digitally altered photographs.” The evidentiary hearing was postponed in December after one of Smith’s three attorneys suddenly resigned. During the evidentiary hearings, Smith’s attorneys will call witnesses to the stand & present physical evidence to the judge in hopes of getting Smith a new trial. A decision from Tuesday’s hearing could take days or even months. The defense attorney from Smith’s trial more than five years ago took the stand Tuesday morning, facing questions about how she handled jury selection. Julie Schlax said Tuesday she was attempting to weed out jurors who might impose the death penalty back in 2018. Smith’s new attorneys also asked why they went to trial instead of taking a plea. Schlax said that was Smith’s decision, adding their ultimate goal at the time was life in prison. The evidentiary hearing will continue Tuesday afternoon. for more info see post #149 for info. Though the defense is presenting a case that his previous attorneys didn’t do an effective job, the judge will have the final say. More witnesses will be called on Wednesday, 1/17/24 before a decision is made.
 
SouthAussie said:
So, he almost pleaded guilty prior to jury selection for his trial.
And he thinks he should have been institutionalised so he wouldn't have harmed Cherish.


"It was also revealed in court on Tuesday that Smith wanted the court process to last as long as possible and Schlax said on the morning of jury selection he came very close to pleading guilty.

At one point during the trial, the attorneys said Smith thought his case would start a movement for people who were victims of a failed system because he should’ve been institutionalized before he could commit crimes against Perrywinkle. He also feared being in the general population because of his crimes."
Click to expand...
This man is the devil. He could have stopped himself at several points and chose not to. He could have self reported his thoughts to someone prior to choosing to commit this horrible crime.
 
Here's an article from yesterday's hearing.

www.news4jax.com

‘Preventable’: Psychologist says DCF evaluation of Donald Smith 7 years before 8-year-old’s murder ‘was a mistake’

The man convicted and sentenced to death in the 2013 murder of an 8-year-old Jacksonville girl was back in court again Wednesday morning for the second day of an evidentiary hearing as he continues to push for a new penalty phase.
www.news4jax.com www.news4jax.com

Jan. 17, 2023
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – During prosecution testimony Wednesday on the second day of an evidentiary hearing for convicted child killer Donald Smith, a forensic psychologist called a 2006 Department of Children and Families evaluation of Smith “a mistake.”
[.....]
Smith’s new attorneys Ann Marie Mirialakis and Robert Hope are accusing his former attorneys Julie Schlax and Chuck Fletcher of not representing Smith effectively during the trial, claiming they didn’t remove a juror who may have been biased and didn’t follow proper procedures to select a jury, among other mistakes.

If the judge agrees, Smith could get a new penalty phase, meaning a jury would once again be called on to decide whether to recommend the death penalty for Smith.

The defense rested Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday, the prosecution called witnesses to argue against Smith’s claims.

State Attorney Melissa Nelson herself called the forensic psychologist who was retained by Schlax in 2018, questioning an evaluation done by the Department of Children and Families in 2006 that found Smith did not meet the criteria for civil commitment.

The forensic psychologist, Dr. Heather Holmes, said the conclusion shocked her.
[.....]
Holmes agreed with Nelson that the evaluation was a failure by DCF.
[.....]
Holmes testified that Smith never showed remorse for what he did to Perrywinkle -- and blamed her for what happened.
[.....]
The prosecution rested around 12 p.m. Wednesday and the judge asked both sides to submit written closing arguments.


So I guess I (we :) ) have to wait for @PayrollNerd - to see what the court site says about next hearing date! :D
 
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