Full Breakdown
Pamela Smart Seeks New Trial After 30-Year Habeas Corpus Petition
7/20/2026, 9:25:29 PM
Core Event
On July 20, 2026, Merrimack County Superior Court Judge James Kennedy heard arguments on Pamela Smart’s latest petition for habeas corpus relief. Smart, 58, is serving life without parole for conspiring with a teenage student to murder her husband, Gregory Smart, in Derry, New Hampshire, on May 1, 1990. The petition asks the court to vacate her convictions, order a new trial, and grant resentencing. Smart attended the hearing remotely from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in New York. Kennedy said he would take the matter under advisement and issue a ruling within 30 to 60 days.
Background & Context
Smart was a 22-year-old media services director at Winnacunnet High School when she began a sexual relationship with 15-year-old student William Flynn. She allegedly told Flynn she needed her husband killed to avoid losing everything in a divorce. Flynn, 17-year-old Patrick Randall, and three other teens entered the Smart home, forced Gregory Smart to his knees, and Flynn shot him in the head. All participants pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and were sentenced to 28 years to life; Flynn and Randall were released in 2015. The 1990 trial was one of the nation’s first to be televised from start to finish, spawning Joyce Maynard’s 1992 novel *To Die For* and the 1995 film starring Nicole Kidman and Joaquin Phoenix.
Key Figures & Groups
- Pamela Smart – Convicted accomplice, petitioner.
- William Flynn – Teenage accomplice, testified at trial, released 2015.
- Patrick “Pete” Randall – Accomplice, released 2015.
- Governor Kelly Ayotte – New Hampshire governor who denied a hearing before the state council.
- Attorney General John Formella – Head of the state’s legal response.
- Assistant Attorney General John Drennan – Defended the petition’s dismissal.
- Judge James Kennedy – Presiding judge.
- Matthew Zernhelt, Jason Ott, Joseph Prieto – Attorneys representing Smart.
Official Statements & Responses
The Attorney General’s office argued the petition should be dismissed because most claims were previously raised and resolved by the New Hampshire Supreme Court, or could have been raised on appeal. Assistant Attorney General John Drennan said Smart’s allegations lack factual support and likened the disputed transcripts to “someone viewing text of a transcribed voicemail and then listening to the actual message.” Governor Ayotte stated she reviewed the case and decided it was “not deserving of a hearing.” The state also noted that Smart’s lawyers never provided a “particularized showing of inaccuracies” in the audio recordings. Smart herself, in a 2024 video, accepted full responsibility, saying she had “deflected blame all the time, I think, almost as if it was a coping mechanism.”
Criticism & Opposition
Smart’s counsel contends that prosecutors misled jurors by supplying inaccurate transcripts of recorded conversations, inserting words such as “killed,” “busted,” and “murder” that were not audible. They cite a forensic study indicating that providing transcripts alongside muffled audio can cause listeners to hear the written words, regardless of the actual sound. The lawyers also argue that the jury was improperly instructed to find premeditation and was not told to consider only evidence presented at trial. Additionally, they claim the mandatory life-without-parole sentence for an accomplice to first-degree murder is not required under New Hampshire law.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
The state maintains that the mandatory sentence issue is moot because the conviction stands, while Smart’s team asserts the law does not mandate life without parole for her charge. No court has yet ruled on whether the transcript discrepancies constitute a constitutional violation, and the petition lacks the specific evidentiary showing the state says is required.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Maybe cognitive bias has set in, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t, when listening, say, ‘Hey, I’m not sure that’s right,’” — John Drennan, Assistant Attorney General
- “Modern science confirms what common sense has always told us: when people are handed a script, they inevitably hear the words they are shown,” — Matthew Zernhelt, Attorney
- “There's no absolute truth about what's on the tapes.” — Matthew Zernhelt, Attorney
- “Ayotte said she reviewed the case and decided it was not deserving of a hearing.” — Kelly Ayotte, Governor of New Hampshire
- “I had deflected blame all the time, I think, almost as if it was a coping mechanism,” — Pamela Smart
What’s Next
Judge James Kennedy is expected to issue a decision on Smart’s petition within the next 30 to 60 days, determining whether the case proceeds to an evidentiary hearing or is dismissed.
