Execution Report: Charles Smith

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A jury convicted Smith of capital murder in August 1989 and sentenced him to death. In December 1991, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found that the trial court refused a valid request from the defense to strike a juror, and vacated his conviction. He was convicted and sentenced to death in a new trial in 1992. This time, the TCCA affirmed the conviction, but vacated the death sentence in September 1995 because the jury wasn't instructed to consider whether Smith killed Deputy Hudson deliberately. Smith received a new sentencing hearing and was sentenced to death for the third time in November 1999. The TCCA affirmed that death sentence in May 2002. All of Smith's subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Carroll Bernard Smith was convicted of murder with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to life in prison. He remains in state custody as of this writing.

Charles Smith declined to be interviewed by reporters while on death row.

Smith's execution was delayed for a few minutes because of difficulty in finding a vein for the injection. When the warden asked if he had a final statement, he replied, "No sir." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:41 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 21 May 2007.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's office, Associated Press, court documents.