A lawyer for Woody Smith claims the man strangled his wife during a caffeine-induced bout of insanity. Defense lawyer Shannon Sexton's request to show jurors caffeine-laced diet pills and the energy drink No Fear has caused the trial to be delayed. Instead of starting on Monday, it will begin on Aug. 30 before Campbell Circuit Judge Julie Reinhardt Ward. Prosecutors want time to test the chemical makeup of the pills and drinks that were given to investigators only four days ago. Smith's parents collected the items from their son's home and car after police searched each place, Sexton said.
"The jury is left to assume that the pills inside the bottles are the same substance as is written on the label - this is not an acceptable leap in a criminal trial," Commonwealth's Attorney Michelle Snodgrass said. She argued that if the pills and drinks are introduced - something she opposes - their scientific composition should at the very least be required. The fact that the pills allegedly came from Smith's home and car doesn't mean he was under their influence when he killed Amanda Hornsby-Smith, Snodgrass said.
Smith faces up to life in prison if found guilty of murder for using an extension cord to strangle his 28-year-old wife in May 2009 in the couple's Dayton home. Snodgrass even questioned where the pills and drinks came from since investigators do not recall seeing them during at least two searches of the residence and impound of the car. "It is just as likely that the pills came from GNC, from Wal-Mart, the Internet, or the defendant's parents' home," Snodgrass said.
Sexton appears to want the items introduced to support a mental-health defense. A psychological evaluation by the defense concluded that Smith was not criminally responsible for the killing. Psychologist Robert Noelker of Williamstown said
Smith suffered from a brief psychotic disorder based on lack of sleep caused by consumption of high levels of caffeine, Ephedra or amphetamine-type substances. Noelker's diagnosis was based on Smith's claims he consumed the pills and drinks in the days leading up to the killing.
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