New Hampshire judge denies Pamela Smart's request for a fresh murder trial

Pamela Smart, serving life without parole for orchestrating her husband Gregory Smart's 1990 killing, sought a new trial through a habeas corpus petition filed in January. On Thursday, Merrimack County Superior Court Judge James Kennedy dismissed the request, stating that the issues raised could have been addressed in prior appeals and, even if not, were without merit. Smart's attorneys argued that jurors were given flawed transcripts of muffled recordings, citing a forensic study on the effect of such transcripts, which the judge deemed legally dubious and unpublished.

The judge also rejected claims that extensive media coverage and faulty jury instructions tainted the original verdict. All co-defendants, including teenage accomplice William Flynn, have since been released, and the case remains a landmark media-driven murder trial.