Susan Smith’s ex-husband isn’t the only one fighting her release; her trial’s main prosecutor is also fighting to keep her in prison for the 1994 murders of her two young sons.
Tommy Pope, the former solicitor for South Carolina’s 16th Judicial Circuit, tells TMZ that he is collaborating with the current solicitor, Kevin Brackett, to keep Susan incarcerated at S.C.’s Leath Correctional Institution for the rest of her life, stating that he will go to any length to ensure she does not escape. Smith’s first parole hearing is planned for November 4.
Pope believes that actions have consequences… and that, while mental health concerns can play a role in cases of suicide, Susan’s decision to drown her small children to be with a man who did not want children was an extreme example of selfishness.
He goes on to say that he is fighting to put Susan in prison for the rest of her life, which he feels is what the jury wanted from the start.
Pope claims that under South Carolina law, the trial judge was unable to inform the jury that Susan would be eligible for parole when they chose her fate… thus he believes that when they sentenced her to life in prison, they intended life without parole.
He believes the jury chose life so Susan may spend the rest of her days pondering on what she did to her children. She was convicted of strapping her two young sons into her car and driving it into a lake, watching them drown, and then telling authorities she had been carjacked, which slowed the inquiry for over a week.
For the time being, it appears that Susan believes she has served her sentence and deserves a chance at life on the outside — and she has reportedly implored her ex, David Smith, not to fight her release — but he appears to be unmoved.