DNA clears man who died on death row

By JACKIE HALLIFAX

Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Nearly 11 months after death row inmate Frank Lee Smith died of cancer, DNA has cleared him in the 1985 rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl.

The FBI has not written its final report, but Assistant State Attorney Carolyn McCann said she called the bureau to ask about the results earlier this week and “they told me, ‘He has been excluded, he didn’t do it.’ “

McCann, who was not the prosecutor at the trial but represented the state during the appeals, said she was “very upset.”

“Nobody wants to feel like the wrong person was in jail,” she said today. “It’s a bad feeling.”

The family of Shandra Whitehead, who was raped, beaten and choked in her bedroom in Fort Lauderdale in 1985, has been told, McCann said. And the investigation has been reopened.

“We have suspects that the defense has been presenting all along,” she said.

Geoffrey Smith, a lawyer for Smith, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Smith died on death row at age 52. He had spent 14 years on death row.

At the trial, three witnesses testified against him, including the little girl’s mother, who said she saw Smith at the living room window, and a woman who said she saw him in front of the victim’s house just before the murder. But that woman later said the man she saw was someone else.

Smith claimed insanity, but the defense failed and the jury recommended the death penalty.

Before his death, lawyers on both sides of the case were fighting over DNA. McCann said Smith’s lawyers wanted to have his DNA tested but wanted to keep the results to themselves. She said she refused to agree to that.

“My whole point of doing DNA testing was that I thought he was guilty,” McCann said.

Months after Smith’s death, an agreement was worked out, and a vial of Smith’s blood was compared with semen taken from the little girl.

Smith had two other killings on his record. He spent 11 months in a juvenile facility after fatally stabbing a 14-year-old boy at age 13. Five years later, he and another teen-ager shot a man to death during a robbery. Smith pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison, but at the time that meant a maximum of 15 years. He was paroled in 1981.

At least nine former death row inmates across the country have been exonerated because of DNA testing, according to the Innocence Project, a New York-based group that has provided legal assistance to prisoners.

Earlier this year, Illinois Gov. George Ryan imposed a moratorium on the death penalty because 13 death row inmates have had their convictions overturned since 1977.

Copyright ©2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Talk to us

More in Local News

Marysville firefighters respond to a 12-year-old boy who fell down a well Tuesday May 30, 2023 in Marysville, Washington. (Photo provided by Marysville Fire District)
Marysville firefighters save boy who fell 20 feet into well

The 12-year-old child held himself up by grabbing on to a plastic pipe while firefighters worked to save him.

Highway 9 is set to be closed in both directions for a week as construction crews build a roundabout at the intersection with Vernon Road. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
Weeklong closure coming to Highway 9 section in Lake Stevens

Travelers should expect delays or find another way from Friday to Thursday between Highway 204 and Lundeen Parkway.

Students arriving off the bus get in line to score some waffles during a free pancake and waffle breakfast at Lowell Elementary School on Friday, May 26, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
800 free pancakes at Everett’s Lowell Elementary feed the masses

The annual breakfast was started to connect the community and the school, as well as to get people to interact.

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring speaks at the groundbreaking event for the I-5/SR 529 Interchange project on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
$123M project starting on Highway 529 interchange, I-5 HOV lane

A reader wondered why the highway had a lane closure despite not seeing work done. Crews were waiting on the weather.

Justin Bell was convicted earlier this month of first-degree assault for a December 2017 shooting outside a Value Village in Everett. (Caleb Hutton / Herald file)
Court: Snohomish County jurors’ opaque masks didn’t taint verdict

During the pandemic, Justin Bell, 32, went on trial for a shooting. Bell claims his right to an impartial jury was violated.

Gary Fontes uprights a tree that fell over in front of The Fontes Manor — a miniature handmade bed and breakfast — on Friday, May 12, 2023, at his home near Silver Lake in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett’s mini-Frank Lloyd Wright builds neighborhood of extra tiny homes

A tiny lighthouse, a spooky mansion and more: Gary Fontes’ miniature world of architectural wonders is one-twelfth the size of real life.

Will Steffener
Inslee appoints Steffener as Superior Court judge

Attorney Will Steffener will replace Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Janice Ellis, who is retiring in June.

News logo for use with stories about Mill Creek in Snohomish County, WA.
Police: Mill Creek man fatally stabbed wife amid financial woes

After quitting his job at Amazon, the man amassed about $50,000 in debt, triggering a discussion about finances, he told police.

Outside of the current Evergreen Recovery Centers' housing to treat opioid-dependent moms with their kids on Thursday, May 25, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
$8M in behavioral health grants to benefit children, youth, families

Snohomish County awarded one-time federal funding to five projects that will reach at least 440 new people each year.

Most Read