Monday, March 7, 2016, 12:40 pm News Flash Archive

This morning, US District Court Judge Debra Brown remanded Lee Abraham's lawsuit against Dr. Arnold Smith back to state court. Abraham had sued Smith for allegedly hiring contract killers to assassinate him. Though Smith was indicted for conspiracy to commit capital murder, he has since been declared incompetent to stand trial and committed to the state mental hospital at Whitfield.

Just before Abraham's suit was set to go to trial, Dr. Smith filed for bankruptcy and then removed the lawsuit from state court to federal court. The suit was put on hold pending the bankruptcy proceedings. For background and details on the alleged assassination attempt and Abraham's lawsuit, see here: Dr. Arnold Smith files for Bankruptcy.

In September 2015, the bankruptcy court gave the okay for the Abraham lawsuit to proceed, and Abraham continued to seek to have the suit sent back to state court for trial. See Judge gives go-ahead to Abraham Lawsuit Against Arnold Smith.

Since September, Smith's attorneys have fought to keep Abraham's lawsuit in federal court, but this morning, the court ordered it sent back to state court, ruling that the state court was better suited to handle the jury trial since all the discovery and pleadings had already been handled by the state court judge Breland Hilburn.

The Court's order this morning may be viewed here: Order Remanding to State Court.

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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