On the Beat in the Bluegrass

Brandon C. Robinson

A defense lawyer urged jurors to convict Brandon C. Robinson only of first-degree manslaughter for gunning down repo man David S. Smith.

Attorney Tucker Richardson said Robinson was acting under extreme emotional disturbance when he fired 12 bullets at Smith on June 28, 2007, the night that Smith tried to repossess Robinson’s white Oldsmobile Cutlass on Laredo Drive.

Robinson, who is on trial in Fayette Circuit Court, had problems with the car from day one. Earlier in the day, he had gotten into a heated telephone argument with Chris Mackey, of Cars R Us, where he bought the vehicle. Robinson threatened to stop making payments, according to testimony.

Even though Robinson was up to date on his payments, Richardson said, Mackey decided to repossess the car.

“I am not saying let him go. Brandon is guilty of manslaughter in the first degree,” Richardson told jurors. “If you do that, I think you will see that justice will be done.”

The jury began deliberating the case Thursday afternoon

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Henderson Baird, in a closing argument that lasted nearly an hour, said Robinson originally told police that he grabbed a gun near his couch, loaded it and went after Smith. Baird said that’s evidence that he intended to kill Smith.

Defense attorneys say Robinson was putting his gun away in his bedroom when his girlfriend’s mother told him the car was being stolen.

Baird urged jurors to convict Robinson of intentional murder.

“There is no reasonable excuse for what he did,” Baird said.