The Mississippi Link obtained an exclusive interview with Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith. We set out to find the DA’s role in the case that centered around an accident where two doctors were killed. According to authorities, Drs. Mark Pogue and Lisa Dedousis were killed when the car (a black 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLS 500) driven by Karen Irby with passenger Stuart Irby crossed several lanes of traffic and hit their vehicle (a Chevrolet Silverado C1500) head on causing a major explosion. We also wanted to know the nature of the charges and the process it took to get manslaughter charges brought against one of Jackson’s most prominent socialites.
ML: How did your office get involved in this case?
DA: Just like with any case, upon completion of the investigation this case was brought to our office and we started reviewing the case and preparing to present it to a grand jury.
ML: Once you began to pour or sift through all of the evidence that you had and discovered that this case was against someone with the last name Irby did you feel any extra pressure to get it right or to take special precautions?
DA: Actually I did not feel any extra pressure or that any other preparation had to be done. It was a fairly straightforward set of facts from the very beginning. When someone who allegedly and has now admitted to having alcohol and crossing the line into oncoming traffic at a high rate of speed and killing two people, it can’t get any simpler than that.
ML: But you are the DA and the Irbys did contribute to your campaign and one of the many conspiracy theories that folk are participating in is that because of their [Irby’s] contributions to your campaign coiffeurs, you have been treading lightly with this case and perhaps even pursued a tough sentencing (charges) knowing that you wouldn’t get it. What say ye?
DA: That couldn’t be further from the truth. We are talking about two counts of manslaughter. That is essentially what it amounts to. We know that she didn’t drive and try to intentionally kill two people. Culpable negligence manslaughter or aggravated DUI is what it would be anyway.
ML: But you initially started out with the charge of depraved heart murder, right?
DA: Yes, we used that as part of our theory. You have to understand that there are several legal thresholds that your evidence must meet and if it doesn’t, your stuff is tossed out or not accepted at all. Can you imagine having an expert witness on the stand and you are presenting this evidence about her blood alcohol level and rate of speed and if we couldn’t prove that – then we would look silly or incompetent. So we went with the best legal theory that we had…based on all of the research that we had done.
ML: Speaking of expert witnesses, there are questions surrounding experts reconstructing the scene and whether or not certain experts were even on the scene during the initial investigation. Do you think the Jackson Police Department messed this case up by being sloppy?
DA: I don’t want to say ‘the’ Jackson Police Department. But what I will say is there was an investigator, an accident reconstuctionist called on the scene apparently who was not on call that night who was not certified.
ML: When you say not on call, do you mean he was not on the scene that night?
DA: No, he was not on the scene…not on call and would not have qualified as an expert at trial. He possibly could have qualified…but again, that’s not the expert that you would want to use with the lack of qualifications that he has.
ML: And that is based upon your knowledge of knowing what they would enter into court or what would be permissible as evidence?
DA: That is correct. With an accident, you look for certain things just as you would in any investigation. With an accident, you look for marks in the road done by tire marks (sic). They are called different things such as skid marks or yaw marks. You measure and calculate these marks to recreate the scene and make other determinations.
ML: Determinations such as what?
DA: The rate of speed. We didn’t have any evidence of yaw marks. We didn’t have photographs of yaw marks. We didn’t have calculations of yaw marks. The measurement on the tire was the front tire and not the back tire. The photographs that we had for example was one of a fire truck’s tire…again you can’t make a claim of 110 mph which raises the question in my mind how did you get 110 mph?
ML: So not having evidence to support your case was problematic?
DA: Absolutely. It was because I have to have something to present or show in court and we didn’t have anything and again I questioned the determination of 110 mph and immediately asked for a second investigation.
ML: There has been talk about whether or not Officer Huff was on the scene the night of the accident or whether you coerced him into coming on the scene later. Who is Officer Huff and to what extent is his involvement?
DA: I do know Officer Huff very well. He’s a very well trained officer and I’ve worked with him before. It is my understanding that he was at the scene sometime after this occurred and he helped the main accident reconstructionist with some of the measurements. I called upon Huff later because he did help with some of the measurements and I knew that he would qualify as an expert. And so I did have him go back and find everything that I needed so that I could at least present a minimum speed of 70 mph.
ML: Let me be frank with you…can’t you understand how the average everyday citizen thinks that preferential treatment has been given to Karen Irby because of who she is or who she is connected to, from the beginning when she was escorted in by JPD for her initial appearance?
DA: I can understand that perceived notion of treatment from the beginning. But you must understand we had nothing to do with that. We don’t handle that and if that perception is spilling over into our part, that is unfortunate. But you must also understand she plead guilty to two counts of manslaughter. That’s murder and will be sentenced as such.
ML: How many years are attached to a manslaughter charge?
DA: They are 20 years apiece. For a charge that really is something that people are normally charged with when you don’t have to deal with discrepancies in the evidence. Again if it had been 110 mph it would have remained as depraved heart murder. People should now really understand that we fought for what the law would allow.
This represents only a portion of our exclusive interview with District Attorney Robert Schuler Smith. If you would like to see the interview in its entirety, visit www.mississippilink.com
Be the first to comment