ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 6, 1996 TAG: 9602060057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
Attorneys in a $10 million wrongful-death lawsuit against former Virginia Beach lawyer and real estate developer Thomas Smolka say the two sides are trying to negotiate a settlement.
Smolka, 48, was convicted by a Florida jury in 1993 of murdering his wife, Betty Anne. But the Florida Court of Appeals overturned the conviction last summer, and the Florida Supreme Court last week refused to reinstate it.
The case is similar to that of O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted in a Los Angeles court of murdering his wife and her friend but faces a civil lawsuit stemming from the slayings.
Unlike a criminal case, where conviction requires proof beyond reasonable doubt, a civil case is decided on the preponderance of the evidence. ``There is no doubt that the state's case against Smolka creates a strong suspicion that he murdered his wife,'' the Florida judges wrote in their decision. ``The number of suspicious circumstances is especially troubling. But suspicions cannot be the basis of a criminal conviction.''
Willis Stephenson, the father of Betty Anne Smolka, brought the wrongful-death suit against Smolka in U.S. District Court on behalf of the Smolkas' three children. The suit contends that Smolka killed his wife in July 1991 for her life insurance.``We're certainly doing everything we can to explore resolving this thing without going into a courtroom,'' said James C. Lewis, Stephenson's attorney.
Richard G. Brydges, Smolka's attorney, said the two sides are negotiating.
Betty Anne Smolka's body was found three days after she disappeared while running an errand for a hotel the Smolkas owned in Ocala, Fla. She had been shot twice in the chest.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB