Byron Smith 'confident' he'll get justice in Supreme Court

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - On Thursday morning, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard from defense attorneys for Byron Smith, the 67-year-old convicted of shooting and killing two teenagers who broke into his Little Falls, Minn. home on Thanksgiving Day of 2012.

Smith’s attorneys say their client, who is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of release for a first-degree premeditated murder conviction, is “hopeful” and “confident,” that he will finally get justice at the Supreme Court level. A final decision is still months away.

Smith shot 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nick Brady after the pair of intruders broke into his house on Thanksgiving, but his attorneys say the grand jury trial was full of errors.

Smith’s attorneys presented the following issues:

-Whether the district court erred by not dismissing the indictment
-Whether the trial court’s closure of the courtroom constituted structural error
-Whether appellant’s right to present a defense was violated
-Whether the prosecutor committed misconduct in closing argument
-Whether the district court erred when it denied restitution for cemetery headstones

Smith’s attorneys asked the Supreme Court to send the case back for a new trial or dismiss his first-degree murder indictment.