FURIOUS....Susan Smith..asking for new trial.

Star*

call 911........call 911
Some of you may remember a woman from South Carolina who made national headlines a few years ago when she went public telling everyone that a black man carjacked her, and took her children. It nearly ripped this state in half. She cried on tv, and wailed. It was later discovered that she actually put her children in the back seat of her car in their car seats, strapped them in and drove her car into John D. Long lake in Union SC. The boys drown. One was around 4 and the other was about a year old.

When they took her to jail? She was put on suicide watch. Later she was kept away from the general population because so many lifers said they would kill her. So she's been in protective custody so-to-speak. A while back I watched an interview with her where she had proclaimed to have found religion. She was demure, smiling, sad at times, crying over her children. Quite the little actress again.

Well now? She wants a re-trial based on her 14th amendment rights. She states she never had an attorney present when she was questioned. Okay there's other things she claiming but the thing that I swear I will stand outside the courthouse and picket her for was she's claiming now that she should be retried because she had Battered Wife Syndrome and didn't know what she was doing. Bull-oney.

To me this is just a slap in the face of anyone who has been abused and walked away, and there's more of us than there is of people like her. It infuriates me to think that now, all of a sudden after her brain has cleared from years in jail, and dealing with the death of her sons that she put to death while alive...

That she's just so bored in jail that she has to start this mess? The forgiving part of me says she's insane. The logical part of me says she's had time to think, get counseling, has learned a few tricks in jail is a sociopath and thinks she's figured a way out and cant stand to be confined, the attention is not on her so she's going to make it about her again. Then there is the dark side of me that would like to offer her the chance to have her day in court...if ----she would submit to being strapped into the back seat of a small car, with no way out, as it was slowly driven into a lake while we stood on the shore and waved and blew her kisses for 10 minutes.

Just what do you think she's up to? :mad:
 

mavh2005

Member
Can I sit on her jury? Please? This is so sad. Make her rot in jail. I just can't understand her... Battered Wife syndrome? I don't think so. Ugh.
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
I'd probably be roasted if I said what I'd like to say...so I won't.

But its not far from your opinion....
 

DaisyFace

Love me...Love me not
Star--

I agree! I remember her "bushy-haired stranger" story and knew from the beginning that she was a liar...

I also remember the father of those two kids--just in shock, heartbroken...asking if she couldn't handle the stress of the kids any more why couldn't she have called?..why couldn't she have said something? He would have saved those two boys in a heartbeat.

So now?

Nice try.

Let her rot.

Sorry.

--DaisyFace
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Im with you. I will stand outside the courthouse too and picket. No way in hades is she anything other than a sociopath. Nothing battered about her. Her husband didnt abuse her. Wont believe it for a hot second.

I saw him not long ago, maybe it was on Nancy Grace, talking about either the Caley or Haley case. He is still a shell of a man. Can barely talk about the boys.
 

1905

Well-Known Member
I don't even think she's sorry now. How could a human being live with themselve?. Wasn't there something awhile back where she was having sex with the jailers? I remember that. When you're in an institiution for so long you spend loads of time trying to be a better robber/murderer/thief. The others in there teach it.She most likely spent her time learning how to try to get out. She deserves to be put in a car and thrown in a lake. Shame on her.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
That happens a lot of times with prison inmates. They get bored! Where I work we have some that are submitting legal filings all the time, asking for everything under the sun. The least that will happen is that it keeps them busy for a while working on all this paperwork. And if they get very lucky and are granted a court appearance, it's a HUGE break in their day to day boredom to actually be able to leave the institution and go to an outside court hearing. And in Susan Smith's case, this also gets the attention back on her again, gets her name back in the newspapers again, if even just for a little while.

I don't believe her for one little minute! She is coniving and manipulative, a real sociopath, while the father of the children seemed to be so totally heartbroken, it was painful just to watch him!
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I knew the name immediately, with-o having had to read your description.
I hope she fails in any and all attempts at freedom.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
The only sympathy I have is for the father of these children and for the rest of the family. Susan Smith can rot for all I care.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
OK, don't dump on me here, but while I found what she did absolutely appalling from so many angles - she IS entitled to justice. A good legal system should be able to give her that justice. The worst murderer in the world is always entitled to the same justice as the most innocent who has been wrongly accused. If the justice system is good, then justice will prevail.

But to deny her justice that SHE feels she's entitled to, even if we do not, is to damage the justice system that we desperately need, to deal with people like this. Because if one day we do the wrong thing or are accused, while innocent, of having done the wrong thing, we will need a good justice system.

I think the fear is, that she won't get justice, she will instead get leniency (which many of us feel would be an outrage).

So much of the story as we have been told it, is appalling. She now claims it was an abusive marriage - so why kill the boys? Did she stay in the car with them to also kill herself? No. The only times I've seen parents kill their kids after they've been in an abusive relationship, the parent kills the kids first because they intend to kill themselves and don't want to let the kids fall into the hands of the abuser; they can't see any way out. I don't see that in this case.

As I recall the story, she had left her husband (or was in the process of leaving him) and had another lover who didn't want the boys. So suddenly the boys were in the way, so she got rid of them, like you'd get rid of a litter of kittens (if the animal welfare people didn't see you do it). That is not the behaviour of a battered wife.

A genuine battered wife clings to the kids. They either become mother tigers and do whatever they have to do, to protect their kids and keep them safe. Or as I said before, they do the murder suicide thing, to go out TOGETHER because they feel so incredibly helpless. Her ability to make up a story about the car-jacker - sorry, it just doesn't fit with what a woman would do, if she were a battered wife trying to get away from her abusive ex. You don't kill the kids and leave yourself an even bigger target, going home with your abuser but this time without the kids as buffer or witness. I can't recall if she actually went back with the father of the kids (while her story was still being believed by some, anyway) but even if she didn't, she had made such a noise, that there was no way she could quietly disappear or go into hiding from her ex if she was afraid of him. No, everyone would have known where she was. Including the alleged abuser.

And if she was a battered wife and her husband was abusive, then why didn't she immediately say, "HE did it!" Even if he didn't. Because she HAD to make up a story, everyone agrees she made up a story - why, if she was abused, would she not implicate the abuser? It would have been an ideal opportunity.

And she didn't. No, she had to invent "the bogeyman".

She has had plenty of time to tell a more truthful story.

And now she has found religion. I am constantly amazed at how court systems in various parts of the world are believed to be influenced by this. We had an Aussie model who was found with a couple of ecstasy pills on her in Bali (a big no-no) and she was able to get herself extricated from this a number of concurrent ways, one of which was to (temporarily) embrace Islam and begin wearing a burkah. As she said later (as she flew home and was met by the media, who saw her back in model personal wearing revealing clothes) you do what you have to do, to get out of it.

I think that is happening here. As someone else said - she could be bored. Hey, it passes the time. If you appeal or get a retrial, you are once more the focus of attention. People listen to what you say. The media are interested. You get a few outings away from the same four walls. You get new clothes to wear for those outings (even if you have to give them back). You get your picture in the paper, your story told. You could even get a book deal or a movie deal. She would want to play herself. Or choose someone attractive to play her. Of course she would want creative control. Even before then, a chance to talk to Oprah.

And of course, she probably wants to get out while she's still young enough to have more kids. She probably loves kids. They bring more attention. OK, the reality of looking after them is mind-numbingly boring but if you make enough money form the book deal, you'll only need to cuddle them in public like Brangelina...

I wonder if the media exposure that Nadia Sulieman has got, is a factor in this decision to re-run her case? Think about the timing of this... she sees the coverage, thinks (as the coverage increases and especially once Dr Phil gets involved), "I can do this. I DESERVE to do this. My story is bigger than hers."
Then it takes a few more months to get something cobbled together enough to find a defence attorney willing to take on her case, someone who thinks, "We could have a chance."

But whatever the story, whatever the reason, it MUST be allowed to run its course. Justice must prevail.

Sometimes I really envy the Indonesian justice system, and their willingness to increase a sentence on appeal, should they choose to get offended at the affrontery of the case. Sometimes... but then, I don't think that is necessarily justice, either. It's closer to revenge.

I'll be watching with interest. But I won't be picketing. Because I suspect she will be getting off on the attention, will probably say, "poor little me, after being abused all those years and now being in isolation because of threats - it is horrible to live with people wanting to hurt me. Take pity on me!"

Much better if the media said, "Susan who?"

That would be closer to true justice.

Marg
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
It's funny but when all this was happening, when the story was first in the news, I KNEW she was lying! Or I highly suspected it. Then when she and her husband were in front of the TV cameras and she was giving her empassioned little speech supposedly appealing to whoever took her children to bring them back ... when she had the little (fake) crying with no tears and her voice cracking (fake also) - I KNEW she was lying! No doubt! How cold does someone have to be to kill their own children to get them out of the way because of some man, then go in to the drama queen act trying to throw suspicion off of herself! If she could coldly do this to her own babies, probably planned it out beforehand, I seriously doubt if it's bothering her too much now either! I hope she rots!

But the father of those two little boys ... my heart just breaks for him. I can't even imagine the agony that poor man has gone through!
 
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klmno

Active Member
No words for this. I only remember that hurt and sick feeling I had for so long when the story was covered originally. I was pregnant when the crime happened and difficult child was a few mos old by the time of the trial so holding my baby while listening to all that only made me feel sicker and more disgusted with her. As much as I found the father likable by nature, I never understood how he could almost sympathize with her instead of trying to kill her with his bare hands.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
... and Marg, I agree. If the husband had really been abusive, she would have been screaming it from the rooftops when she was arrested, she would have tried to blame it all on him or claimed that he was the reason that she did it. And she did none of that.

But just because an inmate files paperwork asking for a new trial or to have their sentence overturned ... very, very few are ever granted. Inmates file petitions like this all the time and they are almost never ever granted. In almost 24 years working in the prison system, the only time I've ever seen this happen is if someone has been incarcerated for many years and then is maybe cleared by DNA evidence that didn't exist when they were convicted - NEVER once in the institution I work in. And the part about not having an attorney when she was questioned ... if they had neglected to read her her Miranda rights when she was arrested, that would have been the VERY FIRST THING her attorney would have brought up in her trial. If they did read her her Miranda rights (which I'm sure they did!) and she chose to talk to them anyway without an attorney present, then that's just tough noogies! That's what they mean when they say, " .. can and will be used against you"!
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I think the fear is, that she won't get justice, she will instead get leniency (which many of us feel would be an outrage).

Yes. True.

However, she has had a trial, and plenty of time to say her piece. Ridiculous to drag this on because she may be "feeling" she hasn't had justice.
 

nvts

Active Member
OK, don't dump on me here, but while I found what she did absolutely appalling from so many angles - she IS entitled to justice. A good legal system should be able to give her that justice. The worst murderer in the world is always entitled to the same justice as the most innocent who has been wrongly accused. If the justice system is good, then justice will prevail.

But to deny her justice that SHE feels she's entitled to, even if we do not, is to damage the justice system that we desperately need, to deal with people like this. Because if one day we do the wrong thing or are accused, while innocent, of having done the wrong thing, we will need a good justice system.Marg

Hey! We wouldn't dump on you! The only way she could get away with her claim that there wasn't an attorney present was if she asked for one and they continued to question her before the lawyer got there. They're not required to provide a lawyer before the question, they're just required to stop if you tell them that you won't answer without an attorney present.

Personally, she should rot. Those babies had no idea what was going on - they died frightened and alone.

Add in the fact that she just about resurrected every racist issue in SC, she shouldn't see the light of day. The only thing she deserves is to have the job of scrubbing toilets in every cell and with the pennies she earns she should have to donate it to a Battered womens shelter.

It seems that Ms. Smith does nothing but capitalize on issues to try and excuse herself for being one of the most hated people on the planet.

Beth
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Oh, puh-lease. If she didn't want to talk to them without an attorney present she should have stopped trying to tell big fibs. She just kept digging her own hole. Too bad she didn't bury herself in it.
 

klmno

Active Member
I read thru this again and remember now that the fact that she did go on and on with that lie about someone taking them and the fake tears and so forth is mainly what threw me over the edge with it. It's one thing for a mother to have a mental or emotional breakdown and do something horrid, which is bad enough and still needs consequences, but she not only didn't have remorse, she kept going on with the plan. Even if someone planned something so horrid, I would think they would regret it after they did it. But she just kept right on. I don't buy the abusive marriage story. Unless there's major evidence written in the divorce decree but I would think that would have come out a long time ago.
 

ThreeShadows

Quid me anxia?
I remember very vividly when this case broke. She wanted to marry the boss's son and the boys were in the way of her climbing up that small town social ladder.

It was so painful for us because we both had gone through infertility treatment and she, who did not want babies, could dispose of them like garbage. I know it is unrealistic, but, when this happened, I wanted the whole country to stop its "business as usual" routine, sit down as a nation and re-examine our priorities. Why is social status so important to us that a young woman is willing to sacrifice the lives of her helpless children?

There is something so mythologic about her story, ambition, spite ( torturing the father and the nation, then blaming an AA man), and revenge against a husband who had not lived up to her expectations. This is the makings of an American tragedy.
 
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