Smith acquitted in hired murder Accomplice liability issue stymies jury

BANGOR – After deliberating for nearly seven hours Thursday, a Penobscot County Superior Court jury found a Brooks man not guilty in a murder-for-hire scheme nearly 20 years ago in Belfast.

Boyd Smith, 41, was one of three people charged in the Dec. 16, 1983, murder of Mervin “Sonny” Grotton in his Belfast home.

Grotton’s widow, Norma Small, 61, and convicted killer Joel Fuller, 45, formerly of Searsport, also have been charged in what the state contended was a murder-for-hire conspiracy and are expected to be tried later this year.

Smith declined to comment after the verdict, but was clearly elated by the decision. He immediately turned behind him to hug his family and the friends who were in the courtroom Thursday.

Smith, who had been in custody since his arrest last May, was released by Justice Andrew Mead after the verdict by the eight-man, four-woman jury.

Defense attorney Eric Morse said he and Smith were happy with the verdict. “It was a very difficult case and a long week.” The trial began Monday and ended at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson was upset and confounded by the jury’s decision.

“Naturally, I’m very disappointed,” the prosecutor said. “I’m disappointed that after Boyd Smith admitted arranging the murder of Sonny Grotton the jury decided not to hold him accountable.”

He said he would subpoena Smith to testify in the upcoming trials of Small and Fuller.

Smith was tried under the state’s accomplice-liability law. That law requires the state to not only prove that Fuller killed Grotton but also that Smith had a direct role in the murder. Fuller, who is serving consecutive life sentences for two drug-related murders that took place in Waldo County, has yet to stand trial for the Grotton murder.

In his closing argument, Benson told the jury that evidence presented over more than three days of testimony clearly proved that Smith formed a “link in a chain” of conspirators that planned and executed Grotton. He noted that Smith had admitted connecting Fuller to Small before the murder. He said that his failure to come forward after the killing indicated his complicity in the murder.

Morse told the jury in his closing statement that while Smith was the person who connected Fuller to Small weeks before the murder, he terminated his involvement once that was done.

During their deliberations, the jury seemed to be clearly hung up on the accomplice-liability issue. At one point, the panel returned to the courtroom and asked Justice Mead whether Smith could be charged with another crime if they found him not guilty. They wanted to know if Smith could be charged with soliciting murder but as Grotton was killed 18 years ago, the statute of limitations on that crime had expired.

Mead told them that was not their job or their concern. He instructed him to return to the jury room and their deliberations. “Find the facts, apply the law, and determine if the state has proved its case,” he told them.

Smith took the stand in his own defense and acknowledged going to a Belfast bar specifically to find Fuller. He said he was aware that Fuller had a reputation as a “wild man, someone who would do most anything for money.” Smith said he knew that Small was willing to pay $10,000 to have her husband killed. He said that when Fuller expressed interest in the proposition, he told him he would never hear from him again.

Smith said he told Small the same thing when he informed her that Fuller might be getting in touch with her.

“I said, ‘that’s between you and him. I don’t want anything to do with it. Leave me alone.'”

Morse told the jury that the accomplice-liability statute allowed a person to terminate involvement before a crime is committed. He said the state was required to prove Smith’s direct participation in the planning and carrying out of the murder.

“It’s a drastic act to hold someone accountable for the conduct of someone else when you are not at the scene and you did not pull the trigger,” Morse said.

Morse suggested that the true accomplice was Small. It was she, he said, who spoke for years of killing her husband. “We know what was inside the mind of Norma Grotton,” he said. “She’s the one with the motive. She’s the one with something to gain … She’s the only connection to Joel pulling the trigger.”

Morse said Smith did a terrible thing but his actions did not fall within the narrow scope of the law. He also noted that Smith was not required to notify authorities of his knowledge in the case.

“Yes, he made the introduction. He made these mistakes and then he backed out. He was petrified that what he did was a terrible wrong and he knew in his heart that it was terribly wrong,” Morse said. “Norma Small got what she wanted from Boyd Smith. She was the accomplice. Joel Fuller and Norma Small await trial right now. Justice will be done. They will have to face the music.”