Billy James Smith
Billy James Smith is a man who served nearly 19 years in prison for sexual assault. In this
particular case Smith was in fact innocent. He served 19 years in prison for a crime he did
not commit and it wasn’t until 2006 that he was let free. Due to a proper DNA test that
Smith was finally granted in 2006 he was finally let out of prison.
There are a number of cases that relate closely to this one. The problem being the
convicted are denied DNA tests due to one reason to the next. In the Billy James Smith
case he was denied a DNA test because it was thought the DNA wouldn’t match up
properly. The state thought the DNA evidence wouldn’t match up properly because of the
victim’s boyfriend.
The crime was committed in a grassy field next to an apartment complex. The crime
started when the victim was in the laundry room of the apartment complex which the
victim’s boyfriend managed. While the victim was in the laundry room she was
approached by a man with knife. The man asked her for money and then dragged her to
into a grassy field near the apartment complex. The man then removed his hat and put it
over the victim’s face, and then forced her to remove her shorts and sexually assaulted her.
Afterwards, the man told the victim that he lived in the area and ran away toward the
apartment complex.
After the assault, the victim immediately told her boyfriend. The victim described the man
as someone she had thought she saw earlier that morning. The victim’s boyfriend had
thought it was Billy James Smith, and went down to Smith’s apartment. When Smith
stepped onto the balcony, the victim identified him as her attacker. Immediately after
identifying Smith the victim and her boyfriend called the police.
There was biological evidence found on the victim. There was semen found in the victim’s
rape kit. At trial, the state claimed that there was no evidence the victim had sex with
anyone 24 hours previous to the rape. So, the semen must belong to the one who
committed the sexual assault.
The defense that was on behalf of Billy James Smith was an alibi. Smith’s sister testified
that she was at home with Smith the entire duration of the rape. She said that she went to
her bedroom to sleep, but did not fall asleep and would have heard if Smith had left. Smith
