Appeal of Smith case to be heard Wednesday in Chicago

T.J. Smith

CHICAGO -- A former Putnam County deputy convicted of two counts of police brutality will have the appeal of his case heard today in federal court, just 13 months after his 14-month sentence was handed down.

The case will be argued before the 7th Circuit of Court of Appeals in Chicago.

Terry Joe "T.J." Smith was found guilty by a federal jury on two of four counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law. During his December 2014 sentencing, federal Judge William T. Lawrence sentenced Smith to 14 months of incarceration.

Prosecutors had argued for a 60-month sentence, and the advisory sentence, as cited by Lawrence during the hearing, is 31 to 41 months.

Defense attorney John Tompkins, on the other hand, argued for house arrest and probation, with no incarceration.

Shortly after the sentencing, both sides appealed Lawrence's decision.

There appears to be little to gain for the defense side of the appeal at this point, given that his sentence is almost up.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons lists Smith as serving in the Residential Reentry Management Field Office in St. Louis, with a scheduled release date of Jan. 28.

As for the U.S. District Attorney's appeal, the main argument lies in the contention that Lawrence's sentence of less than half of the bottom of the guideline range is "unprecedentedly low" and "substantively unreasonable."

"The judge did not explain Smith's significantly below-guidelines sentence," U.S. District Attorney Josh Minkler wrote in a brief filed with the Court of Appeals. "The judge engaged in substantial discussion of Smith's characteristics, but nearly everything he said seemed to be an explanation for a high sentence, rather than the low one Smith received."

Minkler went on to call the sentence "the lowest ever recorded for a similar crime."

No decision will be rendered on Wednesday, with the court instead taking the arguments under advisement.