THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 13, 1995 TAG: 9510130514
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
A Florida appeals court on Wednesday denied a request by the state Attorney General's Office to reconsider a ruling overturning the murder conviction of Thomas Smolka, the former Virginia Beach lawyer and real estate developer convicted of killing his wife, Betty Anne.
The denial was issued without comment, records show.
The Attorney General's Office will now petition the Florida Supreme Court to consider the appeal, said Assistant Attorney General Rebecca R. Wall. If that motion is denied, the state will decide whether to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, Wall said.
On Aug. 9, a three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona reversed Smolka's 1993 conviction in Ocala for first-degree murder. The judges ruled that the circumstantial evidence did not justify the conviction.
Smolka is being held in a maximum-security prison in Raiford, Fla., and will remain there for an undetermined time as the appeals are heard, prosecutors and defense attorneys have said.
In March 1993, a jury found Smolka guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison.
No direct physical evidence was found linking him to the slaying of his wife in July 1991. Instead, prosecutors focused on Smolka's desperate financial situation and the fact that he had insured his wife's life for $500,000. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Thomas Smolka is being held in a maximum-security prison in Raiford,
Fla.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING PRISON APPEAL by CNB