Letitia Smallwood has spent over four decades behind bars. She was convicted of deliberately setting an apartment on North Pitt Street in Carlisle on fire in 1972.
“For 40 years she has been saying she didn’t do this. We now know or we now believe this wasn’t even a crime,” said Marissa Bluestein, one of Letitia Smallwood’s attorneys.
Bluestein and her team claim the fire investigation conducted decades ago is flawed. They also say the state trooper who investigated jumped to conclusions that the fire was set on purpose.
A fire expert who testified on behalf of the defense claims the cause of the fire should have been undetermined.
The expert said if the investigation was conducted today, modern day science would've proved it wasn't arson.
"The methodology was wrong. The conclusions don't have reliability. And because they don't have reliability we can't have confidence in the verdict," said Bluestein.
But, Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed says there was a motive behind this fire.
"Ms. Smallwood was in a dating relationship with a man who was living with the female victim who was killed," said Freed.
The night of the fire, witnesses say Smallwood made the statement, "Because of me the fire started."
Smallwood's attorneys say people took that statement out of context.
The judge called it "the elephant in the room."
The district attorney says he's worried about the two fire victims who died in the fire and their families. He doesn't want them to go through a trial again.
"What this case was about is whether there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction and as the elected district attorney for Cumberland County I've done my due diligence I've spent my time on the fire I've met with the people involved I'm convoked that she's guilty," said Freed.
The judge is asking both sides to submit legal briefs. They're due on April 10. The judge will decide after that whether to grant Letitia Smallwood a new trial.
