Pamela Smart seeks new trial, judge considering her latest petition

Key Points:

• Pamela Smart, serving life without parole for orchestrating her husband's 1990 murder by a teenage student, has petitioned for a new trial, citing constitutional violations and inaccurate trial transcripts; a New Hampshire judge is expected to rule within 30 to 60 days.
• Smart's lawyers argue that jurors were misled by transcripts containing inaudible words and claim the verdict was influenced by media attention and faulty jury instructions, including mandatory life sentencing not required by New Hampshire law.
• The state contends the petition should be dismissed, asserting most claims were previously addressed or could have been raised on appeal, and that Smart's defense failed to prove inaccuracies in transcripts or ineffective counsel.
• Smart, who recently accepted full responsibility for her husband's death in a video, was convicted after a high-profile trial involving her affair with a 15-year-old student who carried out the murder; the case inspired a book and film titled "To Die For."
• The teenage shooter and accomplices served prison sentences and were paroled in 2015, while Smart's legal efforts for sentence reduction have been repeatedly denied, including by the New Hampshire governor and state Supreme Court.