Pamela Smart sues prison over pills found in cell
Smart says pills were prescribed, solitary confinement violated rights
Smart says pills were prescribed, solitary confinement violated rights
Smart says pills were prescribed, solitary confinement violated rights
Pamela Smart, who is serving a life sentence for her role in the murder of her husband nearly three decades ago, has filed a new lawsuit against prison officials.
Smart claims she was wrongfully found guilty of possessing morphine in her cell and locked in solitary confinement for 40 days. In her lawsuit, she claims the New York prison where she is serving a life sentence violated her constitutional rights.
Smart's lawsuit centers around pills found in her cell in April 2017. She said prison officials told her the pills tested positive for morphine, and she was locked in solitary confinement.
But she said in the lawsuit the drug test wasn't administered correctly and the results were false. She said the pills were actually prescribed by her prison facility doctor and were tramadol, a pain pill containing an opioid.
Smart claims she repeatedly asked prison staff to have the pills tested at an independent lab or state police lab at her expense, but she later learned they were discarded.
She is asking for more than $15,000 in damages.
Smart was convicted of conspiring with four teenagers to murder her husband, Gregg Smart, who was shot and killed in their Derry, New Hampshire, condominium in 1990.