JACKSON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — According to court records, a woman convicted of murdering her alleged rapist is back in jail for violating probation – for the sixth time.
Brittany Joyce Smith, now 35, pleaded guilty to murder on October 9, 2020, in connection to the 2018 shooting death of Joshua Todd Smith, (unrelated) 38, of Jasper, Tennessee.
Despite Brittany arguing in a Stand Your Ground hearing that she shot Joshua Smith in self-defense after he raped and strangled her, the mother of four ultimately agreed to a plea deal. She was sentenced to serve 20 years in the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC).
Court records state that Smith was arrested on Thursday, Sept. 21 on two probation violation charges. The records say one of those charges was for testing positive for alcohol while in a women’s rehabilitation center as ordered by the court, and the second charge was for not completing that court-ordered rehabilitation program.
According to the Jackson County Sentinel, Brittany allegedly set fires in two locations inside a mobile home on Bolivar Street in Stevenson in September 2020.
Between August 3, 2021, and March 9, 2022, her probation was violated four times. The first three violations cited issues of house arrest, while the fourth was cited as failing to avoid vicious habits, including meth, court documents say.
In what court records say was a “technical violation” of her probation conditions, an authorization of arrest was issued for Brittany after she was discharged from a treatment program on April 19, 2023, for “being in possession of a cell phone and fraternizing with a male in the program.”
On April 20, 2023, Brittany then reported to the State Probation Office and admitted to having a cell phone and socializing with a man. She was then transported to the Jackson County Jail.
Defense attorney Ron Smith (also not related) said Brittany’s plea deal was hatched through discussions with Jackson County prosecutors. Court documents show the sentence was split for Brittany to serve 36 months. The first 18 of those months were to be served under house arrest, with the final 18 suspended.
One month later, Smith was also sentenced to serve 15 years for second-degree arson. That sentence was also split with six months to be served in the Jackson County Jail, with 60 months under State Probation.
Brittany was the center of a documentary released in late 2022 that explored if women would be as successful using Alabama’s Stand Your Ground law as men.
