43
Indiana man found guilty of rape, home invasion
YOUNGSTOWN
A 42-year-old Indiana man has been found guilty on seven felony charges associated with a rape and home invasion that took place here eight years ago.
Sammie Smith had been on trial before Judge Elizabeth Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court all week for burglary, three counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of robbery. A jury of eight women and four men found Smith guilty of all charges Friday afternoon.
Smith could be sentenced to as many as 78 years in prison.
Dawn Cantalamessa, an assistant county prosecutor, told jurors that in October 2003, Smith broke into the home of a Hilton Avenue woman and her 2-year-old son. She said the woman awoke to find Smith standing over her in her bedroom.
Cantalamessa said Smith dragged the woman to another room of the South Side house, put a bandanna she was wearing over her eyes, threatened to kill her and forced her to perform a sex act on him.
Cantalamessa said Smith forced the woman into other rooms of the house looking for money, then forced her to engage in sex with him. He then made her wash herself before he left the house, she said.
There were no suspects in the 2003 rape until 2008 when police matched DNA taken in a sample from Smith with DNA found at the scene of the crime. The case presented to the jury relied heavily on DNA.
Cantalamessa told the jury during closing arguments that reason and common sense show that Smith committed the crime because semen left at the scene was matched to him. She said that DNA evidence is better than any fingerprint or eyewitness testimony.
Prosecutors also showed the jury a chart describing the matching DNA markers between Smith’s sample and the evidence taken from the crime scene.
Attorney J. Gerald Ingram, representing Smith, before the guilty verdict asked the jury to rise above the emotion of what happened to the victim and the passion to hold someone guilty. He asked the jury to focus on the DNA evidence presented by prosecutors, evidence he repeatedly called flawed for various reasons.
“This case is truly science run amok,” he said.
Ingram pointed out that Smith was not identified by the victim during the trial or when shown photos by officers after the trial. She reportedly picked out two men, one of whom was Smith.
Ingram also said his client lived in Indiana at the time of the crime, and there were no fingerprints associated with his client collected from the scene of the crime.
Cantalamessa asked the jurors to find Smith guilty Friday morning based on the DNA evidence presented.
“This isn’t science run amok, it’s the same science used nationwide to convict criminals or set them free,” she said. “Based on this scientific evidence, Sammie Smith is unique.”
Smith has served time for similar charges in the past.
According to Vindicator files, Smith was convicted of kidnapping, rape and aggravated robbery in 1986. He was sentenced to a prison term of six to 25 years with nine years mandatory.