Donald Smith Spencer Hearing

Donald Smith was accused of kidnapping 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle from a Northside Walmart and then raping and killing her in June 2013.

The State Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty for Smith, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery counts in the case.

Smith was found guilty and the jury recommended death after finding him guilty of first-degree murder, sexual battery and kidnapping charges.

The Spencer hearing takes its name from the 1993 case of Spencer vs. Florida. It is held so defendants facing the death penalty have the opportunity to persuade the court otherwise.

In addition, both sides are given the chance to introduce evidence that did not come up at trial.

The Lem Turner Walmart is the last location Cherish Perrywinkle was seen alive, and the spot where surveillance footage appears to show her leaving with Donald Smith. Her body was found the following morning in a creek.

This marks the first death penalty trial in the Fourth Judicial Circuit since the reinstatement last spring of Florida’s death penalty. Death penalty cases were put on hold after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Florida’s law in 2016. That hiatus ended last March when the Florida Legislature passed a new law requiring a judge to get unanimous approval from a jury before imposing the death sentence.

World Justice News will show the Donald Smith Spencer Hearing free. For the link to view the Donald Smith Spencer Hearing please click here to see our daily schedule.