72° CLOUDY, Man pleads to manslaughter
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at 11:20 p.m.
In a voice that was barely audible and with tears filling his eyes, Zachary Smith admitted in Lauderdale County Circuit Court on Tuesday that he killed Arthur Pete Davis in 2007.
Smith, 50, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the eve of his murder trial that was scheduled to begin today. A jury for the trial was selected Monday.
The plea agreement calls for Smith to be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
When Lauderdale Circuit Court Judge Mike Jones asked Smith what he did, Smith replied that while arguing with Davis, "I got a long gun, and in the heat of the argument, the gun went off."
Smith, dressed in a green Lauderdale County Detention Center uniform, wore handcuffs and leg shackles throughout the hearing,
Davis, 48, died July 14 from a single shot from a 20-gauge shotgun, Lauderdale sheriff's investigators said. He and Smith were neighbors and friends, investigators said.
The shooting occurred outside of Smith's home on Lauderdale 63.
Lauderdale Sheriff Ronnie Willis said Smith and Davis had been drinking before the shooting. Willis called it a "silly drunken argument."
After Tuesday's five-minute court hearing, defense attorney Chris Smith, of Florence, said Zachary Smith is remorseful for Davis' death.
"He breaks down and cries every time he tries to talk about it," Chris Smith said. "He never meant to kill Mr. Davis."
Zachary Smith was led silently from the courtroom Tuesday by sheriff's deputies.
Lauderdale District Attorney Chris Connolly said he met with Davis' family before agreeing to allow Zachary Smith to plead guilty to manslaughter.
"Not everyone was on board with it, but I did consult with the family," Connolly said.
Davis' mother, Shirley Davis, sat beside Connolly and cried as Zachary Smith described the shooting.
"This is a very emotional situation," Chris Smith said. "Both families knew each other. It's just a tragedy any way you look at it. There aren't any winners in this case. It's sad no matter how you look at it."
Connolly called the plea agreement a fair settlement.
The maximum sentence for manslaughter when a gun is used to kill someone is 20 years. A murder conviction would have carried a sentence of 20 years to life.
The sentencing hearing for Zachary Smith is 9 a.m. May 15 in Jones' courtroom.
Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.
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Comments
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April 9, 2008 4:46:51 am
RE: http://timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/NEWS/804090320/1011
This article did not state if Smith pled to a Class A or a Class B felony. It makes a tremendous difference in the actual amount of time that will be served--I wish the TD reporters would give more details in such cases as these.
April 9, 2008 6:24:01 am
Manslaughter is a Class B felony and with a 15-year sentence he will be eligible for good time credit. DOC estimated time to serve is 4 years, 8 months under the current rules.
April 9, 2008 4:43:50 pm
He can get parole in a year or two? Right?
April 9, 2008 9:18:09 pm
Thanks, Lawguy. I was wondering if this were his first felony. It it were his second, the manslaughter would be a class A felony, correct? Unfortunately the TD fails to fill in so many of the blanks.
The "good time" is also intesting. Russ Corey did an aricle on this several months ago, and totally muddied the issue with some false information.
April 10, 2008 5:33:36 am
FV, you are correct about sentencing. He pled to a class B felony which has a sentencing range of 2-20. Manslaughter has a deadly weapon enhancement that makes the minimum 10. If he had one prior felony for purposes of the Habitual Felony Offender Act, his sentencing range would be 10 to 99 which is the same as a class A with no priors. Prior felony convictions do not move the class up for all purposes but in some cases make the sentencing range the same as a step up in class.
Good Time is a whole different topic that is very complicated and difficult to grasp and lots of people confuse Good Time with date of first eligibility for parole.
April 10, 2008 6:19:23 am
I have personally known Zack for many years, the only possibility of him being a prior felon would be for a DUI conviction?
April 10, 2008 5:11:36 pm
You have to have three DUIs to reach the felony threshold. If this is his first offence, he should make parole and be out in two years or so.
April 11, 2008 4:30:20 am
2 years or 15 years....shortened time for good behavior.....shortened time due to parol eligibility....It is all too short a sentence for the senseless act of taking a life during a drunken state. But at least some time served is better than nothing. I guess.I am really torn on this issue. I don't know that the mom and 2 sisters should have done the plea bargin. The rest of the family was not even aware it was happening until it was over. But if they hadn't done the bargin, Zach may not have gotten any time. There is no easy answer for this situation.
April 11, 2008 6:00:08 am
The District Attorney has to find some family representatives with which to deal - they can't consult with everyone who thinks they loved the victim and get everyone to agree. You can bet that this deal offered this late in the proceedings was made because there was a good likelihood a jury would have found him not guilty.
April 14, 2008 9:28:30 pm
I've known Zach and the victim my entire life. I don't know why Zach decided to plea bargain, I guess he felt it was in the best interest of all involved. An like unclegus said, all he would have is DUI(s). I'm glad it's over with and hopefully he (Zach) can recover from this. I can't even begin to imagine how he feels, he has to live with the fact that he killed his best friend and I feel that, that is going to punish him mentally for the rest of his life.
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