Carly Gregg did not get a fair trial, the prosecution's expert "can't see his own hand in front of his face," and Carly Gregg is behind held in solidarity confinement without visitors. Such are some of the sensational claims made by Gregg's attorney, Bridget Todd in a two-hour Youtube interview with New York attorney Melanie Little Monday.
Not many people have the time to watch an interview for two hours so JJ did it for you. Posted below are observations and notes of the interview.
JJ sat through the two-hour interview so you don't have to do it. Posted below are some observations.
* Host Melanie Little and Bridget repeatedly said throughout the show Carly Gregg is "in solitary confinement." Well, that is not exactly true. Gregg can't be housed at the youth detention center as it is not set up for yutes accused of violent crimes. Most of the kids in YDC are there for minor crimes or problems requiring the attention of the youth court. Violent criminal suspects are more likely to prey on them and the authorities don't want the kids learning how to carjack or kill from their peers.
Gregg is housed separately from the adult prisoners in the Rankin County Detention Center. She is not in general population. The feds frown mightily on mixing juvenile and adult defendants. Ask Hinds County. Since Rankin County has relatively low crime, there are very few, if any, juveniles accused of violent crimes as Gregg was. Thus her isolation in jail is due to circumstance, not policy or direct action. The Sheriff's office provided her with a modified tablet so she could communicate with her family while in jail, a tablet she used quite frequently.
* Gregg's attorneys Kevin Camp and Bridget Todd were not public defenders nor were they hired by the family. Todd said she and Kevin Camp represented their client pro bono.
Todd said Gregg would not qualify for a public defender. How come? She was 14 and had no assets. Rankin County courts appoint public defenders to such defendants all the time. There was no indigency hearing held to determine if she even qualified for a public defender. It makes one wonder if Todd understands how the public defender process works.
* Todd said she met Gregg's family on March 22. "Carly would not look up from the floor because she was devastated." The attorney said her client thought Heath Smiley was dead because no one told her he was alive.
* The attorney said she emphathized with those suffering from mental illness. Her brother committed suicide three years ago after changing medication. The day before the suicide, he pointed a gun at their mother.
* Todd called co-counsel Kevin Camp a "phenomenal defense attorney."
* Gregg rejected a plea bargain that would sentence her to 40 years in prison because it was an unfair deal.
* "There are a lot of things we wish we could have done but did not have" the money or time complained Todd. She said they wanted to get a brain scan for Carly Gregg but there was no money nor not enough time for such a scan.
This is where one really wonders if Todd understands the rules of criminal procedure. Todd and Camp, the phenomenal defense attorney, could have applied to the Court for funding of said medical tests and experts. Defense attorneys apply all the time in Circuit Court for the payment of such fees and guess what? The courts approve them.
It is also a bit disingenuous to complain there was not enough time to get a scan when the phenomenal defense attorneys did not file a single motion for continuance. If you are not a lawyer, that means the defense could have asked the judge to postpone the trial so they could get the brain scan and other medical evaluations. The defense can't gripe about having no time when it never asked for more time.
* "It was the judge pushing the case to move forward as quickly as it was," groused Todd about trying the case six months after the murder took place. However, she thought Judge Arthur was doing so to cut her "solitary confinement" short. Try asking for a continuance.
* "She was not allowed any visitors," claimed Todd. That statement is simply not true. Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said Gregg's grandparents visited her in jail. This correspondent can state the judges allowed Gregg's family to visit with her after every hearing.
* Heath Smiley retained a lawyer because a no-contact order was issued between Gregg and Heath. The order was later rescinded.
* Todd said a strong bond developed between her and Gregg. "Gregg said 'yeah, Bridget's the only mom I have left now' to the doctor"claimed Todd. By the way, Ms. Todd, I don't think anyone had a problem with you bringing your client a coke other than a few cranks.
* Carly Gregg was the beneficiary of her mom's life insurance policy but she was unable to collect due to the murder conviction.
* "Ashley Smiley would be rolling in her grave if she knew they were trying to put Carly in jail for the rest of her life," said Todd.
* There were complaints about the deadlines. Todd said the Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure give the party ten days prior to trial to provide witnesses. The defense provided the witnesses within 13 days (23:00). The state provided its witness list on September 9. Um, not so fast my friend. The discovery deadline was August 20. JJ reported last week:
Todd told the Court she did not receive the state's expert witness report until "last night." The claim earned no favors with the judge. Just the opposite as the judge lectured the attorney, "You complaining about the state's rebuttal witness to your witness is a bit like a lady standing in the street holding a Christmas ham screaming she's hungry. You were ordered to turn over an expert witness July 28. You told me it would be July 22. After the discovery deadline passed, a new expert witness was hired. You juxtaposing what they've done with what you've done. Bottom line Show me what you turned over," ordered the judge. Earlier post.
The defense did not provide the expert's report until September 3. Judge Arthur said the state could not provide a rebuttal witness or its report until after it received the defense's expert report.
Todd apparently did not learn anything despite her repeated lectures from the bench. She said "I think it's a gross violation of Carly's due process right to exclude those witnesses." Unfortunately for her, Judge Arthur cited Page v. State where witnesses were excluded when they were provided 11 days before trial. Neither attorney was familiar with the case in court.
* Todd is drafting a motion for a new trial.
* Little asked what was left out "that people should know?" Todd said Ashley Smiley had bi-polar disorder. She was put on Prozac when she became violent at age 14.
* Todd said Heath Smiley was "threatened by law enforcement." Um, yeah. What the police testified was that when they looked at the SD card for the security camera inside the house, the files from that day were missing. Apparently Heath had tried to copy and paste them to his Mac computer. He had just switched from Windows to Apple. Instead of copying and pasting the files as he intended, he cut and paste them. The files were on his Apple computer. The police said he didn't need to mess with anything but let them handle it. There was dispute in court over whether he was "threatened by law enforcement."
* Ashley Smiley filed a motion to suspend and modify Kevin Gregg's visitation in November 2022." Todd said she was never able to serve Kevin, implying he was trying to avoid service of process. However, the docket states (entry 42) "Rule 81 SUMMONS Returned Executed by ASHLEY N SMYLIE. KEVIN WAYNE GREGG served on 1/24/2024. Service type: Personal (Attachments: # 1 Rule 81 Summons,) (Coker, Todd) (Entered: 01/30/2024)"
Attorney Amanda Beard filed an entry appearance this year to represent Smiley so claiming he was never served (implying he was avoiding process) is simply not true.
* Todd criticized prosecution expert forensic psychiatrist Dr. Pickett, stating he had never evaluated a child before. She repeatedly harped on him the remainder of the interview. "I don't think Dr. Pickett could see his hand in front of his face with a microscope," said Todd at the end of the interview.
* Carly Gregg was not tried by a jury of her peers since jurors have to be at least 21 years old in Mississippi.
* Todd argued yet again Gregg should have been in Youth Court.
* Gregg did not take down the camera prior to killing her mother. The attorney claimed this was proof the crime was not pre-meditated or Gregg did not know what she was doing. However, Gregg did hide the gun behind her back and kept it hidden from the camera at all times. Todd made this claim several more times in the interview.
* "Carly did not get a fair trial," said Todd. 1:09:00
* "Carly saw me as a mother figure," said the lawyer. 1:23:00
* Little asked her guest why Carly Gregg killed her mother. Todd replied "There is no way. She had a mental break." The state did not have a motive because one did not exist.
* Todd said the McNaughton test is used very rarely in Mississippi as "it is a hard defense." "It's a very difficult standard to meet," agreed Little.
* Little asked why the defense did not present any mitigating factors at sentencing. The defense lawyers, Gregg's family members, nor Carly Gregg herself took the stand to argue for a reduced sentence or mercy from the Court. It was a shocking turn of events and this correspondent thinks it was a huge mistake not to do so.
Todd replied the mitigating factors were already presented at trial so if they didn't impact the jury at trial, they weren't going to impact them at sentencing. The family was too emotional to testify. Todd said she told Camp "I couldn't get up there and speak because I'd go to jail for thirty days" as she would get too emotional.
* Gregg's attorney said every attorney "we knew were texting us saying you're going to get a hung jury. I expected the jury to be out a long time." She said she estimated them to be out for several days . "I don't want to disparage the jury," concluded Todd.
* Little brought up the matter of the Brady violation. At the conclusion of expert witness testimony, Todd asked the Court to dismiss the case because the prosecution had withheld exculpatory evidence. Waving a stack of papers, Todd said there were text messages between Gregg and a friend in November 2023 that would exonerate her.
The prosecution showed a sign receipt for the discovery materials that included the messages in question. In a rather embarrassing moment for the defense attorney, Todd showed her laptop to the Court, claiming the file was not on her computer. The prosecutors found the file on her computer within a minute. Motion denied. Judge Arthur also said the text messages were not exculpatory but were texts about drugs and her crush on a boy.
However, let it be said there is no shame in Bridget Todd's game. Todd said PG sent Todd a text stating he found a text message with Carly from November 2023 where Carly discussed blacking out that day. "We got over 10,000 pages of discovery. They had downloaded everything on the kid's phones,... It was too massive to go through... I have no regrets," said Todd. Watch the video.
Again, why didn't Todd ask for a continuance? Continuance requests for more time to review complex discovery are granted all the time in Circuit Court.
* Little and Todd brought up the Justice Department investigation of the Rankin County Sheriff's office.
* The grandparents set up a Gofundme page for Carly Gregg but it has been removed.
* Oh yes, almost forgot. Todd said once Gregg went to prison, MDOC would house her with adults. See 1:06:00 in the video. Miss Todd said "you're put into general population, regardless of age." The attorney said she did now know where MDOC would house her client. "I don't think I ate a meal all weekend, just thinking about it," said Todd.
Well, perhaps Miss Todd should read the law and learn how things work. Gregg will be housed at the juvenile facility at CMCF in Rankin County, pretty close to her family as required by state law. Section 47-5-1401 of the Mississippi Code states:
There is no shame in her game.
- (1) The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall establish a Youthful Offender Unit ("YOU") at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. All youth ages seventeen (17) years of age and under and who are assigned to a Mississippi Department of Corrections prison shall be housed in the YOU, except that nothing in this section shall prohibit the department from housing a youth who is seventeen (17) years of age and under in a community work center or other environments that are less restrictive than a Mississippi Department of Corrections prison.
- (2) Youth ages seventeen (17) and under as prescribed in this section shall be housed in the YOU, separate from adult inmates. No individual who is over the age of nineteen (19) shall be housed in the YOU. The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall have discretion to house individuals who are eighteen (18) and nineteen (19) years of age and who have been classified as vulnerable in the YOU.
- (3) The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall provide youth housed at the YOU with the opportunity for the appropriate amounts of interactive, structured rehabilitative and/or educational programming, recreational and leisure activities outside of their cells on a daily basis, including weekends and holidays. The programming developed, as prescribed in this subsection shall, to the extent possible, be tailored to the developmental needs of adolescents.
Kingfish note: Since Todd doesn't think juvenile killers should be tried as adults, what does she think should have been done with Luke Woodham?
41 comments:
Why are you obsessed with Luke Woodham?
Todd should adopt Gregg and raise her as her own-
Kingfish, who is the best criminal defense attorney in the Jxn area? From what I've read, in his prime Dale Danks was good, but he's in the big courtroom now. I have zero knowledge on this subject.
It isn't right to keep her away from human interaction for this long... I understand what she did to her mother was cruel and inhumane but she was also 14 when the horrible crime was committed. Our justice system failed this child. She deserves life I agree, but WITH the possibility of parole. There is no way in the world that she would get out in 10 or so years as the prosecution tried to say in their argument that is simply not true.
Also RIP Brad Todd, you are so missed
Todd has a huge soft spot for children. Her judgement on taking this case is questionable but nonetheless she is a caring person.
What is the solution? No other juvies accused of serious crimes. Suppose your child was in YDC for drugs, was a runaway, or other problems. Would you want your kid around a killer? Now, Gregg probably would not do anything. Let's go to Hinds County . Would you want your 14 year old taken in for something around killers and carjackers?
KF you are 💯correct. Ashley Smiley didn’t kill anyone. There are many high functioning bipolar people who don’t murder. I worked with some and love them dearly. When they get off their meds normally you see it immediately & address it. Where Carly committed the crime is the county with jurisdiction. Ms. Todd is the worst defense attorney I have ever seen. 40 year plea deal with possibility of parole was a great offer. If Carly doesn’t follow the rules while in custody then she would have lost parole chance. She does not need to be in contact with youth her age, due to her violence. Carly alone chose her path in life. It’s okay to be Evil & You don’t need a family! Her words Ms. Todd, PS “You are not her mother!” Ashley Smiley is her mom forever, just not hear on earth.Do not blame Dr Pickett, the prosecution, Judge Dewey or the JURY for doing their jobs in an amazing professional way. Get over yourself. Everyone hates what has happened but life has consequences! #1 Being Thou Shalt Not Kill!
So Todd and Camp took the case for the publicity? Hope they’re in the camp of ‘all publicity is good publicity.’ So much of the focus was on the attorneys. Know when that happens? When they’re doing a bad job. Judges, attorneys and court personnel love to tell attorney stories. Almost all the stories worth telling involve attorneys doing stupid things in court.
They couldn’t look at 10,000 pages of production because it was too much? That’s crazy. That’s about 4 banker’s boxes if printed. Not only is that not too much to review, it’s not even a notably large production in litigation. Attorneys have to deal with production that size or larger ALL THE TIME. Only the lazy don’t actually do the work.
Also, who were these attorneys predicting a hung jury? It was an open and shut case. Who was buying the insanity defense? They should have told Gregg to take the deal. It can be a personal opinion that 40 years is unfair, but in the actual judicial system it’s fair. She would have been out of prison with 25-30 years of her life expectancy left. More people probably would’ve had heartburn with that deal than do over her life sentence. The general public is fine keeping people like Carly Gregg off the streets for the rest of their lives.
As for the attorney's claim that, "Ashley Smiley would be rolling in her grave if she knew they were trying to put Carly in jail for the rest of her life."
Ashley Smiley would not be in her grave had she not been murdered.
Perfect storm for a reversal, plenty of issues on both side of the ball.
Didn't you post a story on here this summer that Carly had different psychiatrists? I don't remember the name Dr Clark. It seems like it was not long after she was arrested and the defense hired someone but they were on vacation and it would be a week or so before they'd be able to do their interviews of her. What happened to those experts?
Without a firearm she is virtually harmless. Are firearms readily available in prison?
Software and skill make reviewing the data that was produced easy, whether it was from phones or wherever. That's a shortcoming of the attorneys, especially for not recognizing they were in over their heads.
The mother is just as dead, regardless of Carly's age, mental condition, drug use the defense, or whatever. We need to quit worrying about the criminal's well being. She made her choice. Let her rot.
"Her judgement on taking this case is questionable but nonetheless she is a caring person. "
If that was true the first thing she should have recognized was that she was not competent to represent this client in this case.
You might be right but no one else signed up for the job. And if you remember correctly Carly's family sought her out.
EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kevin Gregg was on WLBT today and was spot on. I pray for him as well. Even he said army knew right from wrong & could have called him instead of murder.
Her attorneys should have asked for a continuance, as they so DIRELY needed time to prepare. The attorneys absolutely should have convinced the family to take the 40 years because the video was shocking.
P.S. Judge Dewey- everyone at work now says "let's take a pregnant pause". Hilarious.
“Perfect storm for reversal”? Please elaborate. Because from where I’m sitting it’s the perfect storm for affirming the verdict. They can’t appeal having to go to trial when they never asked for a continuance. They can’t appeal because the prosecution produced the evidence they asked for but it was too much for them to look at. The jury shouldn’t have believed the prosecution’s expert is not a basis for appeal. Did they move to exclude the expert’s testimony before he testified? I’m guessing no. But even if they did, on what basis was the argument? She did it. That matters. It matters a lot.
To win on appeal they have to convince the appellate court the judge got a ruling wrong on a material issue that would have affected the outcome. None of this stuff Todd whines about is a basis for appeal. There is an art to creating and preserving appeal issues during a case and especially at trial. It’s obvious that Todd and Camp are not proficient in that aspect of trial practice. And no, the fact they did a mediocre job is also not a basis for reversal.
Look at their faces on the cover page for the video ad and then look at them once the cameras are rolling 😂 yuge difference. Nice editing someone did.
Without a firearm she is virtually harmless. Are firearms readily available in prison?
September 26, 2024 at 12:22 PM
Well Everthing Else Seems To Be Available...
She is 15 now but regardless if your kid is 14 or 15 and are doing these crimes that young I'm sure they will grow up to be model citizens!
Also Kingfish or whatever your name is why do you have such a hard on for Bridget and Kevin? They're attorneys doing their jobs, people make mistakes, right? You hide behind this page but I'm sure you'd run if you saw half of the people you report on.. Get a new hobby
Meaning drugs, cell phones, and shanks... You ever heard of an inmate with a gun? Me either...
I thought the same thing... Carly shot her parents, period. But she called her friends to come over and didn't harm them. She didn't go to the school and try to shoot it up.. I guess he's trying to make a connection because he killed his mother too. But Carly wasn't in a satanic cult or killing animals..
If you actually read my comment that's not what I was saying at all. I agree that she is guilty and that she does deserve life. All juvenile's should be prosecuted if they have committed a crime. But I should have clarified that she deserves a mental institution instead of prison for life.
If Camp and Todd took the case pro bono, Carly definitely got what she paid for.
every attorney "we knew were texting us saying you're going to get a hung jury. I expected the jury to be out a long time."
Is that because you were able to seat 8 women and you were counting on jury nullification?
They are both juveniles.
Defense told the Judge in April it was using Dr. Mark Webb. Webb visited Gregg four times at RDC. They told Judge at August hearings they were using Dr. Webb. Then suddenly they decided to use Dr. Clark after the deadline. Hence they didn't provide the expert report til September 3.
Could have asked for a public defender.
I watched the interview she did. I'm certain Ms. Todd is a nice person. I also think Ms. Todd is delusional. She stated too many things that were inaccurate and unfortunately very simply not true. I was at the supreme court today for the bar ceremony for new attorneys. I would pay any of those attorneys to take my case before I would let Ms. Todd handle a case of mine pro bono.
Pro bono, or more fully, pro bono publico, does not mean "free lawyer" or "without cost," it means, "for the public good." I'm not going to get into minutiae, but lawyers are expected to do a certain number of hours of "pro bono" work per year, either by rule or recommendation, and the amount varies. While many lawyers fulfill it by providing "free" indigent criminal defense, lawyers are still expected to pro bono work within their areas of general and reasonable competence. Helping a first-time offender with a plea bargain on a minor charge is something many attorneys could handle. This case was hardly such a something.
Caring greatly about children and their welfare is a noble, honorable, and wonderful thing. Not wanting to see a 14-15 year old who you reasonably believe committed the crime charged due to outside influences is, at the very least, understandable. Taking on the defense of a complex and high-profile murder charge/case/fact-set when you are not well-versed in such defense, regardless of who is or is not paying, is not doing the client or the public any good.
Inmates have been making single use makeshift guns for decades in prison. They call them stingers.
Look up prison zip gun
Listen to Kevin Gregg say Carly is guilty and should not have used insanity as a defense!
Plenty of folks have been killed while in prison - other inmates and on occasion a guard. Doesn't take a firearm to kill someone. Try again with a better argument.
Irrespective of my opinions on all of this, and I have many, I can't help but respect the fact that Todd and Camp saw this case through, presumably because she thought it was the right thing for her to do, and he backed her up.
They put their money (time) where their mouths are, and I respect that. Not everyone is willing to stand on principle when it costs them to do so.
9:09 Attorneys are required to donate time each year per MS Rules/Laws & cannot say they defense did not get a fair trial. Yes I believe Todd was representing Ashley in a custody dispute when Carly murdered her. Perhaps defense should have talked to Kevin Gregg!
This statement (mentioned above) was definitely interesting:
"* [Melanie] Little [interviewer & New York attorney] asked [Bridget Todd] what was left out 'that people should know?' Todd said Ashley Smiley had bi-polar disorder. She was put on Prozac when she became violent at age 14."
So, ASHLEY SMILEY (the woman who was murdered by her daughter Carly Gregg) (1) "had bi-polar disorder" and (2) was put on Prozac when she (3) became violent at age 14"?! Are those statements true? IF so, HOW do we know that?
I remember that it was mentioned in the trial that Ashley had been put on Prozac (meaning at some point in her life) but that it made her suicidal so she didn't want Carly to be put on Prozac. But was Ashley ever actually diagnosed with "bi-polar disorder"? IF so, who diagnosed Ashley with that? And did Ashley actually become violent at age 14? IF so, then it seems like Carly became something like her mother.
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