The Commission on Capital Cases updates thisinformation regularly.  This information; however, is subject to changeand may not reflect the latest status of an inmate’s case and should not berelied upon for statistical or legal purposes. 

SMITH, COREY (B/M)

DC#    192202

DOB: 08/17/72

­­­Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County Case #00-40026

Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Jorge Perez

Attorney, Trial: Carl Masztal – Private

Attorney, Direct Appeal: Teresa M. Pooler – PublicDefender’s Office

Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Neal A. Dupree & SuzanneM. Keffer – CCRC-S

Date of Offense: 07/24/97, 12/01/98

Date of Sentence: 03/24/05

Circumstances of Offense:

In December 2000, Corey Smith and seven other individualswere indicted for crimes committed in connection with the John Doeorganization, a criminal enterprise that distributed powder and crack cocaineand marijuana in Miami-Dade County from 1994 to 1999.  Smith was thealleged leader of the group and was convicted of conspiracy to engage in acriminal enterprise, engaging in a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to trafficin marijuana, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, four counts of conspiracy tocommit murder, four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of LeonHadley, Cynthia Brown, Angel Wilson, and Jackie Pope, and two counts ofmanslaughter for the deaths of Melvin Lipscomb and Marlon Beneby.  OnMarch 17, 2005, Smith received 2 sentences of life in prison for hisinvolvement in the murders of Jackie Pope and Leon Hadley.  Smith received2 sentences of death for his involvement in the murders of Cynthia Brown andAngel Wilson.  These sentences were received in conjunction with 8 othersentences ranging from 15 to 30 years in prison on a 14-count indictment. While the details of the other charges and sentences are explained elsewhere[see Smith v. State, No. 05,703 (Fla. Mar. 19, 2009)], this section of the casesummary will outline only the circumstances of the offenses that resulted in asentence of death.

Cynthia Brown was smothered to death on July 24, 1997. Brown was the sole witness against Smith in the 1996 murder of DominiqueJohnson, a 19-year-old rival drug seller.  While several people witnessedthe Johnson murder, Brown was the only individual who came forward to identifySmith to the police.  Smith was scheduled to be tried for Johnson’s murderon July 28, 1997.  However, the prosecution was forced to dismiss thecharges against Smith when Brown, the only witness, was found murdered lessthan a week before the trial was to take place.  Several witnessestestified that Smith wanted to eliminate the witness who was going to testifyagainst him in the Johnson murder case.  Anthony Fail testified that Smithhad offered him $50,000 to kill Brown, although he did not accept theoffer.  Fail also testified that Smith had put aside $20,000 to payBrown’s boyfriend, Chazre Davis, for murdering Brown.  Carlos Walkertestified that he heard Smith instructing Davis to strangle or suffocate Brown,so as to not leave evidence at the scene. 

Brown died from asphyxia as a result of being smothered witha pillow in a motel room she was sharing with Davis.  The couple checkedinto the motel on the evening of July 23, 1997 and her body was found thefollowing morning.  Brown had petechial hemorrhages in her eyes, insideher upper lip, and on her epiglottis.  Her lungs were full of fluid due topulmonary edema.  She had also sustained postmortem cuts on the side ofher neck.  All of these injuries were consistent with asphyxia as thecause of death. 

Angel Wilson was shot to death on December 1, 1998. Due to a continuing feud between Smith and Wilson’s then-boyfriend, AnthonyFail, Smith had arranged for members of the John Doe organization to targetFail on the evening of Wilson’s death.  That night, the couple tookWilson’s car when visiting the home of Fail’s stepbrother, James Harvey. When they arrived, Harvey warned Fail that he had seen a car, occupied by JohnDoe members, circling the block.  Fearing for Wilson’s life, Failpersuaded her to leave the house and to drive home.  Soon thereafter,Wilson was shot multiple times with a semiautomatic assault rifle while she wasdriving her car.

Wilson died of multiple gunshot wounds to her entirebody.  She was struck 16 times by bullets entering the driver’s side ofher vehicle.  Six of the bullet wounds were fatal.  The medicalexaminer testified that Wilson’s lungs were riddled with pieces of metalfragments ripped from the door by the passing bullets.  The bullet woundscaused extensive tissue damage, including severing her left breast and part ofher ankle.  She died in the vehicle from internal injuries.

Codefendant Information:

Chazre Davis

Chazre Davis was indicted for the first-degree murder ofCynthia Brown, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and racketeering on12/19/00.  These charges are still under review in Miami-Dade county, casenumber F-00-040026-H.

Julius Stevens and Eric Stokes

Julius Stevens and Eric Stokes were charged in the murder ofAngel Wilson.  Stevens was convicted of first-degree murder and sentencedto 25 years in prison.  Eric Stokes was convicted of second-degree murderand is serving a 15-year sentence.

Additional Information:

On 03/30/99, Smith was sentenced to life in prison by afederal judge. On October 21, 1999, Smith was convicted and sentenced to lifein prison for federal drug and firearm charges.  Five of his gang membersreceived the same conviction and sentence. 

Prior Incarceration History in the State of Florida:

Trial Summary:

12/13/00         Indicted as follows:

CountI:           Conspiracy toViolate Racketeering Law

CountII:         Conspiracy to ViolateRacketeering Law

Count III:       Conspiracy to Traffic Drugs (Cannabis)

CountIV:        Conspiracy to Traffic Drugs(Cocaine)

CountV:         Conspiracy to CommitFirst-Degree Murder

CountVI:        First-Degree Murder (Leon Hadley)

CountVII:      Homicide, Manslaughter (Melvin Lipscomb)

CountVIII:     Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder

CountIX:        First-Degree Murder (Jackie Pope)

CountX:         Conspiracy to CommitFirst-Degree Murder

CountXI:        First-Degree Murder (Cynthia Brown)

CountXII:      Homicide, Manslaughter (Marlon Beneby)

CountXIII:     Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder

CountXIV:     First-Degree Murder (Angel Wilson)

12/03/04         Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment.

02/10/05         Jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2 and 9-3.

03/17/05         Sentenced as follows:

CountI:           Conspiracy toViolate Racketeering Law – 30 years

CountII:         Conspiracy to ViolateRacketeering Law – 30 years

CountIII:        Conspiracy to Traffic Drugs – 30years

CountIV:        Conspiracy to Traffic Drugs – 30years

                                    CountV:         Conspiracy to CommitFirst-Degree Murder – 30 years

CountVI:        First-Degree Murder (Leon Hadley)– Life

CountVII:      Homicide, Manslaughter (Melvin Lipscomb) –15 years

                                    CountVIII:     Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder – 30years

CountIX:        First-Degree Murder (Jackie Pope)– Life

                                    CountX:         Conspiracy to CommitFirst-Degree Murder – 30 years

                                    CountXI:        First-Degree Murder (CynthiaBrown) – Death

                                    CountXII:      Homicide, Manslaughter (Marlon Beneby) – 15years

                                    CountXIII:     Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder – 30years

                                    CountXIV:     First-Degree Murder (Angel Wilson) –Death           

Appeal Summary:

Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal

FSC# 05-703

7 So.3d 473

04/25/05         Appeal filed

11/08/07         Oral Arguments held

03/19/09         Conviction and Sentences affirmed

04/13/09         Mandate issued

Florida Supreme Court – 3.851 Petition (Non-final)

FSC# 09-1441

32 So.3d 60

08/10/09         Petitionseeking review of non-final order filed

03/09/10          Petition dismissed voluntarily

Circuit Court – 3.851 Motion

CC# 00-40026

(Pending)

05/28/10          Motion filed

Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition ofSentence:

There are no undue delays at this time.

Case Information:

On 04/25/05, Smith filed a Direct Appeal in the FloridaSupreme Court, citing the following issues: (1) the trial court erred inordering extensive security precautions in and around the courtroom, which werehighly prejudicial to the defendant, without giving the defendant notice andopportunity to be heard, which was in violation of his Sixth and FourteenthAmendment rights to a fair trial; (2) the trial court erred in not striking thejury panelists who had been exposed to an out-of-court comment by thedefendant’s mother, which several members of the venire disapproved of or foundinappropriate; (3) the trial court erred in allowing the State to use anonqualified expert to interpret the words and phrases used by various personson taped conversations played to the jury; (4) the trial court erred inallowing the State to introduce, as non-hearsay, a police report whichcontained out-of-court statements of a witness accusing Corey Smith of ahomicide not charged in this case and expressing her fear of him, (5) the trialcourt erred in limiting the cross-examination of three witnesses crucial to theState’s case, where the proffered cross-examination would provide an additionalexplanation for the cause of death of one victim and would provide motive tolie and bias for the two other witnesses; (6) the trial court erred by notgranting a mistrial after the prosecutor presented the medical examiner with animproper hypothetical and solicited an opinion from the witness on the samefacts after two defense objections were sustained; (7) the trial court erred innot granting a new trial for the State’s intentional failure to provide thedefense with a witness statement that was materially favorable to the defense;(8) the trial court erred in not holding a hearing to determine prejudice tothe defense after the testimony of witness, Carlos Walker, where the Statefailed to disclose to the defense that Carlos Walker has changed his statementafter he was deposed and prior to his testimony at trial; and (9) the trialcourt erred in not granting a new trial where the trial was fundamentallyflawed by the cumulative effect of prosecutorial misconduct, which could havereasonably been expected to affect the outcome of the trial.  Oral Argumentswere held on 11/08/07.  On 03/19/09, the Florida Supreme Court affirmedboth the convictions and the sentence of death.  The Florida Supreme Courtissued a mandate on 04/13/09.

On 08/10/09, Smith filed a petition seeking review of anon-final order in a death penalty proceeding in the Florida SupremeCourt.  This petition was dismissed voluntarily on 03/09/10.

Smith filed a 3.851 Motion in the Circuit Court on 05/28/10.This case is currently pending.

________________________________________________________________________

Report Date:  03/20/09          AEH

Approved:      03/27/09         RM

Updated:       07/22/10          EMJ