New Hampshire Judge Rejects Pamela Smart New-Trial Bid

Judge Jack Kennedy issued a 55-page order on Sept. 17, 2026 denying Pamela Smart's petition for a new trial and granting the state's motion to dismiss. Smart, 59, is serving life without parole for 1991 convictions of accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy to murder and witness tampering in her husband Gregory Smart's 1990 killing in Derry, N.H. She filed a 169-page petition in January. A July 20, 2026 hearing addressed the state's motion. Kennedy wrote that if a habeas petition is based on a claim that only could have been brought in a direct appeal, it may be procedurally barred. Contested Eleanor Pam, Smart's spokesperson, said it joins a long line of denials by people representing the state of New Hampshire. "It's an unbroken streak of denials and biases against Pam Smart and her quest to seek justice," she said. The petition disputed transcript words from recordings with then-15-year-old Cecelia Pierce, including "killed," "busted" and "murder," and cited a 191-participant forensic study on expectation bias. Kennedy called the study's relevance "dubious" since it was not fully published. Billy Flynn, the teenage shooter, was released in 2015 after 25 years. Smart remains the only person convicted in the killing still in prison.