Pamela Smart, serving life, seeks a new trial as a New Hampshire judge weighs her latest petition

Pamela Smart, serving life, seeks a new trial as a New Hampshire judge weighs her latest petition 1 of 5 | This image taken from video provided by Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord, N.H., shows Pamela Smart appearing remotely from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in Bedford Hills, N.Y., during a hearing related to her petition for a new trial, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Concord, N.H. (Merrimack County Superior Court via AP) 2 of 5 | Pamela Smart answers questions from the defense in her murder conspiracy trial, March 18, 1991, in Rockingham County Superior Court in Exeter, N.H. (AP Photo/Jon Pierre Lasseigne, File) 3 of 5 | Merrimack Superior Court Judge James Kennedy listens during a hearing for Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student, at the Merrimack Superior Court in Concord, N.H., Monday, July 20, 2026. (Grace Chai/Seacoast Media via AP, Pool) 4 of 5 | Members of the New Hampshire Solicitor General’s office speak at a hearing for Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student, at Merrimack Superior Court in Concord, N.H., Monday, July 20, 2026. (Grace Chai/Seacoast Media via AP, Pool) 5 of 5 | Matthew Zernhelt, an attorney for Pamela Smart, speaks to Merrimack Superior Court Judge James Kennedy during a hearing for Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student, at the Merrimack Superior Court in Concord, N.H., Monday, July 20, 2026. (Grace Chai/Seacoast Media via AP, Pool) 1 of 5 | This image taken from video provided by Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord, N.H., shows Pamela Smart appearing remotely from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in Bedford Hills, N.Y., during a hearing related to her petition for a new trial, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Concord, N.H. (Merrimack County Superior Court via AP) 1 of 5 This image taken from video provided by Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord, N.H., shows Pamela Smart appearing remotely from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in Bedford Hills, N.Y., during a hearing related to her petition for a new trial, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Concord, N.H. (Merrimack County Superior Court via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 5 | Pamela Smart answers questions from the defense in her murder conspiracy trial, March 18, 1991, in Rockingham County Superior Court in Exeter, N.H. (AP Photo/Jon Pierre Lasseigne, File) 2 of 5 Pamela Smart answers questions from the defense in her murder conspiracy trial, March 18, 1991, in Rockingham County Superior Court in Exeter, N.H. (AP Photo/Jon Pierre Lasseigne, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 5 | Merrimack Superior Court Judge James Kennedy listens during a hearing for Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student, at the Merrimack Superior Court in Concord, N.H., Monday, July 20, 2026. (Grace Chai/Seacoast Media via AP, Pool) 3 of 5 Merrimack Superior Court Judge James Kennedy listens during a hearing for Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student, at the Merrimack Superior Court in Concord, N.H., Monday, July 20, 2026. (Grace Chai/Seacoast Media via AP, Pool) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 5 | Members of the New Hampshire Solicitor General’s office speak at a hearing for Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student, at Merrimack Superior Court in Concord, N.H., Monday, July 20, 2026. (Grace Chai/Seacoast Media via AP, Pool) 4 of 5 Members of the New Hampshire Solicitor General’s office speak at a hearing for Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student, at Merrimack Superior Court in Concord, N.H., Monday, July 20, 2026. (Grace Chai/Seacoast Media via AP, Pool) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 5 of 5 | Matthew Zernhelt, an attorney for Pamela Smart, speaks to Merrimack Superior Court Judge James Kennedy during a hearing for Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student, at the Merrimack Superior Court in Concord, N.H., Monday, July 20, 2026. (Grace Chai/Seacoast Media via AP, Pool) 5 of 5 Matthew Zernhelt, an attorney for Pamela Smart, speaks to Merrimack Superior Court Judge James Kennedy during a hearing for Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student, at the Merrimack Superior Court in Concord, N.H., Monday, July 20, 2026. (Grace Chai/Seacoast Media via AP, Pool) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Concord, N.H. (AP) — Lawyers for Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student in 1990, urged a New Hampshire judge Monday to allow her latest petition for a new trial to move forward. Smart, 58, was a 22-year-old high school media coordinator when she began an affair with a 15-year-old boy who later fatally shot her husband, Gregory Smart, in Derry. The shooter was freed in 2015 after serving a 25-year sentence. Though Smart denied knowledge of the plot, she was convicted of being an accomplice to first-degree murder and other crimes and was sentenced to life without parole after a trial that was one of the first in the nation to be broadcast live on television from start to finish.Smart filed a petition for habeas corpus relief in January seeking to overturn her conviction over what her lawyers claim were several constitutional violations. The state responded with a motion to dismiss the petition, resulting in Monday’s hearing, which Smart attended remotely from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in New York. Merrimack County Superior Court Judge James Kennedy took the matter under advisement. He planned to rule in 30 to 60 days. Smart’s lawyers say transcripts of recordings during trial were inaccurateSmart’s lawyers argue that prosecutors misled the jury by providing them with inaccurate transcripts of surreptitiously recorded conversations of Smart that included words that were not audible on the recordings. Among the words they claim weren’t audible but in the transcript were the word “killed” in the sentence “you had your husband killed,” the word “busted” in the sentence “I’m gonna be busted” and the word “murder” in the sentence “this would have been the perfect murder.”