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Court denies Pamela Smart's bid to have life sentence commuted

March 29 (UPI) -- The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that it does not have jurisdiction to reduce or commute the life sentence of Pamela Smart.

Smart, who was convicted in 1991 in connection with the death of her husband, Gregg, has failed to have her life sentence reduced in consecutive years. With the court's decision, Smart's only chance at a reduced sentence lies with Gov. Chris Sununu, according to ABC News.

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Smart's attorney Mark Sisti, who also represented her in her 1991 trial, alleged that the governor and executive council failed to do their jobs by not giving Smart a fair hearing last month. During that hearing, Smart requested for her sentence to be commuted but was dismissed after less than three minutes, WMUR-9, ABC's Manchester, N.H., affiliate reports. The council also denied Smart's request for commutation in 2019.

In the court's decision, it reportedly ruled that it is not within its power to order the governor or his executive council to reconsider Smart's sentence.

"It's politically uncomfortable for them to deal with Pamela Smart," Sisti said, according to ABC. "I'm really amazed that they don't have the guts to look her eye to eye and ask the questions that they should be asking. We don't know if they even looked at one page of what we submitted."

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Despite the dismissal, Sisti said he will continue to push for a reduced sentence.

"The governor and council can try to ignore us. We're not going to be ignored," he said.

Gregg Smart allegedly was shot and killed in 1990 by 15-year-old Billy Flynn, a student of Pamela Smart. She was reportedly not there when the shooting took place but was convicted for conspiracy to commit murder.

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