GREENWOOD — A judge will decide if mental examination records of a Greenwood doctor charged in a murder-for-hire case can be used in a civil trial.
The Greenwood Commonwealth reports attorney Lee Abraham is seeking the mental exam records to use in his civil lawsuit against Dr. Arnold Smith.
Smith, 72, is charged with murder as the alleged instigator of a plot that ended April 28, 2012, with the death of gunman Keaira Byrd and the serious wounding Derrick Lacy. Byrd allegedly was hired to kill Abraham, who represented Smith’s ex-wife in their divorce years ago. Smith is also charged with two counts of conspiring to murder Abraham.
Three investigators from the attorney general’s office were at Abraham’s office when Byrd and Lacy arrived and exchanged gunfire. Abraham was not injured in the gunfire.
The criminal case against Smith has been on hold indefinitely since Judge Breland Hilburn ruled in December that Smith was unfit to stand trial. Smith was sent to Mississippi State Hospital for evaluation. Smith is back in Greenwood for a competency hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
The trial in the civil case has been moved to Lowndes County on a motion filed by Abraham’s attorneys.
Hilburn has not ruled whether Abraham’s lawyers can have the mental examination records.
William Bell, Smith’s attorney, has objected to turning over those files, arguing that the records likely contain private medical information and possibly confidential and inadmissible statements made by Smith while undergoing treatment.
Hilburn said he and Bell would both review the records before turning them over to Abraham’s attorneys to determine if any information should be withheld.
Abraham argues in the civil lawsuit that he has had to change his daily actions and lost enjoyment of his normal life as a result of the alleged plot and the shootout.
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