Jurors in the Ronald Smith murder case have been dismissed from the courthouse and will return at 9 a.m. Thursday to begin their deliberations. The prosecution rested its case at 4:03 p.m. Wednesday. There were indications Smith would testify in his own behalf but, after deliberations with his attorney, public defender Wanda Johnson, and family members he decided not to do so. Johnson offered up no other witnesses. In her closing argument, she tried to convince jurors to accept Smith’s story that he was showing his alleged victim, Charles Graves Adams, the gun when the shooting occurred. Smith claimed a shell was hung in the chamber and the gun went off when he released the bolt with his finger on the trigger. Earlier in the afternoon, GBI crime lab firearms expert Dr. Francis (Jay) Jarvis testifed that such a scenario was a near impossibility. He said he tested the rifle in the lab and it was working properly. In his closing argument, assistant district attorney Scott Johnston told the jury Smith went across the road to Adams’ house with his wife’s shoes on, his jacket turned inside out with full intent to kill. His intended victim was Mickey Waldrop who had sold him “$65 worth of bad dope”, Johnston said.
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