Dr. Arnold Smith, 70, an oncologist, has been arrested in a bizarre alleged conspiracy to kill the lawyer, Lee Abraham, who represented his ex-wife in their divorce in the 1990s. What is amazing is how the hit men were stopped in the act by two investigators visiting the lawyer at the most opportune time.
Here is how it unfolded. Agents from the Attorney General’s office were meeting with Abraham when Keaira Byrd, 23, and Derrick Lacy, 25, burst into the law firm to allegedly kill the lawyer. The agents confronted the men and a firefight ensured that ended with Byrd dead and Lacy wounded. One of the agents was also wounded.
To make this legal scenario complete, Abraham also contacted the FBI earlier to report the receipt of a libelous letter targeting his brother, Leflore County Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham, and his sister, Mississippi Delta Community College official Magdalene Abraham.
Given his age, a sentence even on the low end for these crimes would be a life sentence for Smith. What will be interesting to see is if the prosecutors will review this as a felony murder where the hitman’s death is charged against Smith. Of course, that is hardly needed given the age of the alleged felon and the facts of the case.
Source: Clarion Ledger as first seen on ABA Journal.
@Bettylath: I have had the opposite experience with lawyers (and I am not one); on the dozen or so instances when I have needed them, they have performed heroically and won for me, and my family, and kept my sister, nephew, cousin, and niece out of jail. My youngest sister at least four times (on drug charges). They also, in one instance, kept me from being suckered by a tricky contract. I believe that lawyers have literally saved the lives of several members of my family.
Dominic, I am glad you are so well educated and can inform the lowly likes of me. If one of Shakespeares characters said it then it was written by Shakespeare therefore it, in fact, was Shakespeare who ultimately said it.
I am not a student of Shakespeare. The line for me said all it needed to say wihtin the confines of that wording. Additional context may have made it more convivial to lawyers.
My experience is that the adversaries acted like friends when they apparently colluded to force a settlement of bupkis, not enough to cover the lifetime medical expenses resulting from the med. mal (for which there was ample proof). in a case worth millions (doc perjured himself, pa superior court said so) and within a month the defendant nominated to be Pa. Sect of health (Peter J. Jannetta 1995- 1996).
I have written elsewhere about how I was treated by the system during this case so won’t bore you again but the law in my experience has been nothing but an ass and the lawyers, well you can finish that sentence yourself.
Glad to know there’s at least one lawyer in Mississippi who is well
admired. If there’s more than one, it might be D. Scrugs or “Seabass”, both of whom have been featured on 60 minutes.
anon 1, April 30, 2012 at 3:03 pm
“As a lawyer I know likes to say, “Everyone hates lawyers until they need one.””
Once again, the lawyer fails to perceive reality.
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anon,
I was just passing along what he said. Does he fail to perceive reality? Well, let’s just say that he presents himself as one of the good guys when, in fact, he’s anything but. Enough said.
Curious blog, curious comments. It must be the Mississippi swamp touch.
And the involvement of the beacons of the community: doctor and lawyer.
ANON, Agreed, one hates all to whom ones wretchedness has been revealed. But oddly, I stand in gratitude to the lawyers and other good samaritans who have acknowledged my humanity when it was at low ebb.
“As a lawyer I know likes to say, “Everyone hates lawyers until they need one.””
Once again, the lawyer fails to perceive reality.
“Needing” the lawyer just makes you hate the lawyers even more.
Even after you need a lawyer, and have hired a lawyer, you still hate the lawyer. At each step of the process you hate the lawyer. And when all is said and done, you hate the lawyer.
It’s just that lawyers (currently) beat guns.
…Keaira Byrd, 23, and Derrick Lacy, 25, burst into the law firm to allegedly kill the lawyer…
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the creation of jobs really is picking up apparently…..
What do oncologists do in life? Poison people to make them live longer.
Nest to dentists and chiropractors they are in the catagory of the “usual suspects”.
I plan on leaving two 45’s locked and cocked with hollow point ammo in my office desk when and if I get a job as an attorney. You just never know who you’ll piss off….
anon nurse, I needed one and hope I never do again
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My friend took me with him when a lawyer told him he didn’t need to incorporate his dba (not true), that he didn’t need a will (not true), that it would cost only $200-300 for a lawyer to sort his nearly million $ estate (not true). Another lawyer who tried to start a real war with his beneficiaries and lied to the judge ex parte. Another lawyer who was so arrogant that he wouldn’t answer any questions – just leave it all in his hands. Another who bragged that his law firm was insisting on their client’s getting a cherry dining room table which had been holding up a divorce settlement for 2 years. The divorcing parties could each have bought a new cherry dining suite for less than what they each paying in legal fees.
As a lawyer I know likes to say, “Everyone hates lawyers until they need one.”
Gee, why would a doctor want to have a lawyer killed? They are such nice, compassionate, humble, fair people – not! based on my experience.
In answere to Leejcaroll , he should do his home work .Shakespeare never said “we should first kill all the lawyers” . It was one of Shapespeare’s characters who said ” the surest way to create chaos and unleash tyranny throughout the land is by killing all the lawyers “. Henry VI, part 2. It was actually a complement to lawyers . In affect he was saying witout lawyers to protect our rights chaos and tyranny will take over. So having lawyers is a good thing. Leejcaroll do more reading and thinking and less writing.
AY, if an attorney is court appointed in Mississippi, I guarantee you no one is going to get rich. The hourly rate paid by the state is decades behind the economy. And if a defense attorney is appointed by the court to represent an indigent client, it is next to impossible to get the judge to change his mind unless one can show cause there is an irreconcilable conflict of interest.
I am sure the doctor will not qualify for a court appointed attorney, so I hope he has some funds and assets laid back. His part is going to be seriously expensive.
Derrick Lacy, the surviving alleged gunman, is probably indigent so some poor attorney is going to be stuck with defending him.
leejcarroll:
“I intended to write Shakespeare was right, First lets kill all the lawyers but then I read the whole article. I still agree with Shalespeare based on my own experience(s) with attorneys…”
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That infamous Shakespeare line from Henry VI was uttered by Dick the Butcher as a plan to subjugate England into a communist style state.
Shakespeate had a few good things to say about lawyers, too:
We must not make a scarecrow of the law,
Setting it up to fear the birds of prey,
And let it keep one shape, till custom make it
Their perch and not their terror.
(Measure for Measure, 2.1.1)
And do as adversaries do in law,
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
(The Taming of the Shrew, 1.2.280)
OS,
We agree but for different reasons….. It will have to have a change of venue…. Because it’s a capitol crime…. He is entitled to legal representation…. Whether retained or appointed…. Someone’s gonna get rich…..
It is a small world. I don’t know this doctor, but do know Lee Abraham. He is a nice guy and a good lawyer. Glad the agents were there and armed or Lee would probably have been a dead man.
AY, they may have trouble finding a lawyer to represent the defendants and a judge to hear this case. Lee is well liked and there are going to be conflicts of interest all over the place.
A cancerous hatred within a doctor who could not obey the ancient expression urging “physician heal thyself” …
Wow….. OS….. Some Attorneys are gonna get rich off of this…..
I intended to write Shakespeare was right, First lets kill all the lawyers but then I read the whole article. I still agree with Shalespeare based on my own experience(s) with attorneys but the agent and alleged perpetrators killed and injured is a bad and I hope undesired outcome.