The Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled that Gwinnett County trial courts will need to hold a new evidentiary hearing for a man requesting a new trial after his conviction for the 2003 murder of his two-year-old son.
The decision released by the court Wednesday, October 15, ruled that the trial court had not used the appropriate legal framework when denying Danyel Smith’s motion for a new trial in 2024. Smith was convicted on felony murder and aggravated battery in the 2003 death of his two-year-old son, Chandler.
The trial court had initially denied Smith’s motion in 2021 without holding an evidentiary hearing, with the Supreme Court of Georgia ruling in 2022 that they would need to hold a hearing before denying the request. After that hearing was held, Smith again appealed, this time arguing that the court had not applied the correct legal framework in its decision.
The appeal centered on an argument from Smith’s legal team that science surrounding the diagnosis of brain injuries in infants had changed since his trial and could potentially rule out “shaken baby syndrome,” which was ruled to be the child’s cause of death in the initial trial.
“Today’s unanimous decision…vacates the trial court’s order and remands the case back to the trial court to consider Smith’s motion within the appropriate legal framework related to whether the evidence was truly newly discovered, whether Smith exercised due diligence, and whether the new evidence was so material that it would probably produce a different verdict,” a statement from the Supreme Court on Wednesday said.
The Supreme Court of Georgia has previously upheld Gwinnett County courts’ conviction of Smith in a 2008 decision.
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