Queens Judge Orders Re-trial For Convicted Murderer

A Queens judge ruled on Monday that there should be a re-trial for the 1996 conviction in the case of a homeless parolee found guilty of arson and murder on New Years Eve, 1995.
The judge, Robert J. Hanophy of State Supreme Court in Queens, ruled that Edwin Smith did not receive sufficient counseling from his lawyer, Michael Mays, on several plea offers available to him from the prosecution.
Smith was offered plea bargains by prosecutors which would have meant a six to eight year sentence. He ended up being sentenced to 17 years in prison for second degree murder, fourth degree arson and criminal trespass.
Hanophy said Smith did not receive "effective assistance of counsel" because of his lawyers failure to discuss with the defendant the "advisability of accepting or rejecting any plea offer."
Smith testified in the 1996 trial that he was keeping warm with a makeshift candle made of animal fat and paper wick in an abandoned building in Jamaica. The candle accidentally caught on fire and spread throughout the building.
When the blaze in the building became out of control, Smith fled from the scene and failed to tell fire officials that there were no trapped victims left in the building. Lt. John Clancy went into the building to see if anyone needed to be rescued when the floor collapsed and he fell to his death.
Prosecutors said Smith should be held liable since his negligence in informing fire officials led to Clancys rescue efforts and resulted in his death.
Clancy, 35, is survived by his wife, Dawn, who was six months pregnant with their first child at the time of his death. Nine thousand uniformed fire fighters attended his funeral. Hailed as a hero, many of the fire fighters from Engine Co. 298 and Ladder 127, attended the 1996 court proceedings.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said he will appeal the decision in order to keep Smith in prison. If the appeal is accepted by the appellate court, Smith will most likely have a new trial after November 21.