A Baltimore man who represented himself on murder charges in Howard Circuit Court was sentenced to 30 years in prison yesterday for the April 1993 slaying of his girlfriend at a Scaggsville reservoir.
Marvin Philander Smith, who continues to proclaim his innocence, was given the maximum sentence for his second-degree murder conviction by Judge Raymond Kane Jr.
Smith, a 37-year-old who has a high school equivalency diploma, took over his case after dismissing his public defender in July, against the recommendation of the attorney and two judges.
He told court officials yesterday that he would appeal his conviction. Judge Kane told Smith that a public defender could represent him in the appeal, but Smith said he intended to handle the proceedings himself.
Smith was convicted in September of the beating death of Vanessa Armstead, a 38-year-old Baltimore resident whose body was found floating in Rocky Gorge Reservoir on April 13, 1993.
Yesterday, Senior Assistant State's Attorney Kate O'Donnell asked Judge Kane to give Smith the maximum sentence for second-degree murder, noting the violent nature of Ms. Armstead's death.
The prosecutor also said Smith never showed remorse for Ms. Armstead's slaying.
But Smith countered that he did not show remorse because he was innocent.
"Remorse can only be given by someone who committed a crime," he said. "I'm not a murderer, so I don't know how
*
*TC murderer is supposed to act. I didn't cause Ms. Armstead's death."
With a 30-year sentence, Smith must serve at least 7 1/2 years before he will be eligible for parole, according to state parole guidelines.
Lawyers and law professors said defendants rarely represent themselves at trials, particularly when the charges against them are as serious as murder.
Some said Smith may have fared better with the jury had a lawyer handled his case.
"I think the guy's foolish for doing it," said Jonathan Scott Smith, a Columbia lawyer who is not related to the defendant.
Byron Warnken, a University of Baltimore professor who also has a law practice, said an attorney would have attacked the prosecution's case
and might have been able to create reasonable doubt among jurors and win an acquittal.
Mr. Smith, the lawyer, said that an attorney would have been able to capitalize on the fact that the prosecution had mostly circumstantial evidence, no witnesses to the slaying and no confessions from the defendant.
But the outcome of Smith's case may have been no different with an attorney, the lawyer said.
Murder cases involving couples with turbulent relationships often end with a second-degree murder conviction, he said. The history of violence makes it easier for a defendant to claim that a death resulted from a fight -- thus not premeditated, first-degree murder, the lawyer said.
If Smith had been convicted of first-degree murder -- the most serious charge that was filed against
him -- he could have been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Trial testimony revealed that Ms. Armstead suffered three blows to her head with a 6-foot-long tree branch that fractured her skull, broke her jaw and severed an ear. Smith's fingerprints were found at the murder scene, a remote area of the reservoir called Scotts Cove.
Ms. Armstead's relatives testified that the woman and Smith often argued, sometimes violently, when drinking alcohol. They said Ms. Armstead and Smith were drinking and arguing the night before her death.
Smith, who didn't present witnesses or testify at his trial, told the jury in his closing statement that he had nothing to do with Ms. Armstead's death. He said he had no recollection of the night before her death because he was intoxicated.