Attorney defending his own murder-for-hire case says he was framed by jailhouse 'snitch'
A suburban Chicago courtroom was nearly filled with an audience comprised largely of fellow attorneys and law enforcement officers on Thursday as Robert Gold-Smith made closing arguments in his own murder-for-hire trial.
The onetime bankruptcy practitioner is accused of trying to find a hit man behind bars to kill his wife, while he was jailed in a prior domestic battery case amidst a contentious divorce. But he argued that purported audio of himself was actually an impersonation by a snitch seeking to frame him in the Will County prosecution, reports the Herald-News.
Witness Brian McDaniel faked the recording to get a deal in his own case, the 53-year-old Gold-Smith told Judge Daniel Rozak.
Earlier, a sister testified that the whispery voice on a recording obtained by McDaniel wasn’t her brother.
“If the voice doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” said Gold-Smith. The comment is an echo of a famous argument by Johnnie Cochran in O.J. Simpson’s California murder trial more than 20 years ago, notes the Daily Southtown (sub. req.).
Gold-Smith also said he didn’t have the $5,000 he allegedly promised to pay a hitman and contended that a purported plan to have his attorney make the payment obviously made no sense, since a lawyer would never have agreed to do this.
But prosecutor Peter Wilkes said McDaniel had no incentive to lie because he had already received promised incentives before he testified.
The defendant’s ex-wife, Victoria Smith, testified last month that “there’s no doubt whatsoever that it was Robert” on the audiotape, a previous Daily Southtown (sub. req.) story reports.
She described Gold-Smith as “wonderful” when the couple met in 1995, but said his behavior later deteriorated.
Smith recalled that when she attended a bond hearing the day after the alleged 2010 courtroom battery by her then-husband she spotted a ski mask, gloves and a large butcher knife in the vehicle he had driven to the courthouse.
Gold-Smith argued at closing that the mask and gloves were simply cold-weather clothing he needed and the knife was in the car because he intended to loan it to a friend for Thanksgiving.
The judge said he intends to examine the evidence before ruling. A court hearing is scheduled March 3.
If convicted of solicitation, Gold-Smith could get as much as 40 years.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Bankruptcy Lawyer Charged With Beating His Wife Outside of Courtroom; Another Lawyer Intervenes”
