Case Study - Conroy Smith
Conroy Smith
Convicted of murder
Sentence: 30 years Year of Conviction: 2006
On December 12, 2006, Conroy Smith (pictured below) was found guilty of murder under the doctrine of joint enterprise, a British law meaning a person may be found guilty for another person’s crime. He was convicted with two other defendants.
Background
On August 30, 2004, Lee Christopher Subaran was shot twice at Notting Hill Carnival. One shot was fatal and he died at the scene. The prosecution case was that at approximately 10:10 pm on the night he died, Subaran caught the attention of three black men due to a disrespectful comment that had been made.
Shortly afterwards several more black men joined them, one of which was Conroy Smith. The group confronted Subaran in a small park where several shots were fired as Subaran attempted to run out of the park. He collapsed and died as he was leaving the park.
The prosecution asserted that the shooting was carried out by members of the “Mus’ Love Crew,” for which Conroy Smith was a member.
An eyewitness identified Conroy Smith in December 2005, 16 months after the initial incident. She was interviewed four days after the incident and provided names for people she knew who were at the scene of the incident; Smith’s name was not mentioned.
The eyewitness is a covert human intelligence source, who was run by a police handler. She sold drugs to Smith and was effectively his dealer for two years before the incident involving Subaran so she knew Smith well. She also made advances towards Smith, which he said he rejected.
Smith denied all charges against him and denied being involved in the murder. An individual has since come forward and said that he fired the weapon that killed Subaran and that Smith was not at the scene
or involved.