Former prosecutor argues against parole for Susan Smith, convicted in 1994 child murders — Transcript

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1. 0:01a 30-year-old case back in court Susan
2. 0:04Smith a woman convicted of drowning her
3. 0:06two children is eligible for parole and
4. 0:08we'll have a hearing later this morning
5. 0:10and it's a case that happened right here
6. 0:12in South Carolina our Lauren lennin
7. 0:14joining us now with details on what
8. 0:16could happen in today's hearing Lauren
9. 0:19well Lisa this case was one that shocked
10. 0:21the world in 1994 Smith rolled her car
11. 0:24down a Union County boat ramp with her
12. 0:26two sons in the back seat Smith then
13. 0:28told authorities she was carjacked by a
14. 0:30black man who then took her kids after
15. 0:32holding a gun to her side now this was
16. 0:34not true I spoke with the former lead
17. 0:36prosecutor in Smith's trial Tommy Pope
18. 0:38who sought the death penalty for Smith
19. 0:40he outlined some possible outcomes for
20. 0:41today's hearing one Smith does not get
21. 0:44parole and she's able to have an
22. 0:45opportunity to receive parole every two
23. 0:47years the second she gets released and
24. 0:49is back in the public both of these
25. 0:51options Pope says would be a
26. 0:54tragedy the tragic part of that of
27. 0:56course is that David Smith the father
28. 0:58Michael and Alex and his family you know
29. 1:00will be drawn into it every two years
30. 1:04going forward um if she was released you
31. 1:07know the the the re release criteria you
32. 1:11know I think there's issues about where
33. 1:12would she go what would she do you know
34. 1:14that they would have to flesh out I've
35. 1:17said you know from a community
36. 1:18standpoint if she was to be released uh
37. 1:22the best thing Susan could do is move
38. 1:24somewhere far away and go live in
39. 1:26obscurity and live out the rest of her
40. 1:28life now Pope said says statistically
41. 1:30speaking most firsttime parole
42. 1:32opportunities do not happen he says as
43. 1:34far as what the hearing will look like
44. 1:36today Smith will appear virtually from
45. 1:38her prison in front of the seven parole
46. 1:40board members now the hearing will start
47. 1:41at 9:00 a.m. in Colombia and coming up
48. 1:43in the next half hour Pope shares what
49. 1:45his hopes are for today's hearing after
50. 1:47having worked so closely on the case
51. 1:49working for you Lauren Lennon
52. 1:51news4 the father of those two children
53. 1:54Michael and Alexander he is planning on
54. 1:57speaking at the hearing David Smith will
55. 2:00be asking for his former wife to stay
56. 2:02behind bars he says he plans to speak to
57. 2:05the parole board from his
58. 2:07heart I want to look at them I look them
59. 2:11in their eyes the whole time I'm
60. 2:13speaking to them and hopefully that will
61. 2:16make an
62. 2:17impact Smith says the 30 years Susan has
63. 2:21served is not enough of a punishment for
64. 2:24killing their sons and if you're
65. 2:26interested in watching that hearing you
66. 2:28can stream it live on abcnews4.com and
67. 2:31on our YouTube page again it starts at
68. 2:339:00 a.m.