Georgia v. Smith
[1] In October 2003 the boys' parents had told authorities Josef had passed out and never regained consciousness after the family gathered in the kitchen to participate in a virtual prayer session with their church via the Internet.
[1] Mr. Smith reportedly told police that when he picked Josef up, he was "warm to the touch, wet with sweat, and unresponsive," that he thought his son was overheating, that he had carried the boy out to the carport in an unsuccessful attempt to cool him off.
[2] The medical examiners for Cobb County concluded that eight-year-old Josef Smith died as a result of "acute and chronic" abuse.
[7] At one point, Remnant Fellowship's website contained the following testimony from a member: "I was hesitant and sometimes refused to properly discipline my children because I didn't want to 'hurt' them or have them hate me."
[13] Prosecutors in the trial said Joseph and Sonya Smith beat their son Josef, locked him in a wooden box and confined him to a closet for hours at a time before he died in October 2003.
[7] According to a 2007 article depicting testimonies from the live trial, Josef's older brother, Mykel, testified in congruence with the events presented by the prosecution.
The police reported that the Smiths locked Josef in his room to pray to a picture of Jesus on the ceiling and in a closet for days and even weeks.
"[14] According to the official trial documentation,[15] Mykel also corroborated accusations that Sonya and Joseph routinely disciplined their son, Josef, by beating him with glue sticks, belts, and heated coat hangers; locking him in confined spaces for extended periods of time; and tying his hands with rope.
[1] During the trial, the defense attorney pointed out that there was no DNA evidence to prove the boy was locked inside the wooden box as the prosecution claimed.
The defense also said the closet that prosecutors accused the parents of locking the boy in had no wall to prevent him from going into his bedroom, because his father had been renovating the house.
[7] At the sentencing hearing approximately two dozen supporters for the Smiths were in the courtroom, and several friends spoke on the couple's behalf, describing them as kind.
"[16] The defendants did file a motion in Cobb county for new trial arguing the "ineffective assistance of counsel" of their defense lawyer,[17] but that was denied on October 8, 2009.
[19] This appeal was denied on November 8, 2010, when the Supreme Court of Georgia on a 5–2 vote upheld the murder convictions and life prison sentences given to both Joseph and Sonya Smith.
The dissenting opinion cited improper conduct of the trial judge for allowing the prosecutors to sing "Happy Birthday" to the deceased boy, as these "theatrics" were unfair and potentially prejudicial against the parents.
