Smith reaches plea agreement

Marty Smith has changed her plea to “no contest” on charges that she was an accessory to the death of local man Doug Haar and will appear in District Court next month for a sentencing hearing with Judge Thomas W. Rumpke. Smith was found guilty of both charges in 2019, but the case was to be heard again following a successful appeal to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Smith is expected to plead “no contest” to one felony count of accessory before the fact to involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of accessory before the fact to aggravated assault and battery.

In exchange, the State has agreed to suspend the remaining portion of Smith’s original jail sentence.

According to the plea agreement, on the manslaughter charge, the recommended sentence will be between six and 18 years, with credit for time already served and the remaining portion suspended. On the aggravated assault charge, the recommended sentence will be between six and ten years, again with credit for time served and the remaining portion suspended.

Smith would then be placed on unsupervised probation for the period of one year. The terms of this probation would prohibit Smith from any contact with members of Doug Haar’s family, whether in person or electronic.

Smith would also surrender her rights to a jury trial. The plea agreement acknowledges that changes in case law and discovery provided by the State prior to Smith’s first trial, as well as the transcript of the first trial, “leads the defendant to believe that it is still possible the State could prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the pending charges had the matter proceeded to trial.”

Conversely, the plea agreement states that the State has reviewed the case files for Smith and the companion case of Jessie Johnson, as well as the Wyoming Supreme Court’s opinion from Smith’s appeal. Based on these things and the fact that the Wyoming Supreme Court’s opinion altered the law on self defense and abandoning the alter ego rule, “the State believes there is a higher likelihood in a second trial that the defendant would be acquitted.”

Smith’s change of plea and sentencing hearing is scheduled for 8 a.m. on June 23.