Prosecutor John Tunney has described the decision to release convicted killer Eric Smith from prison as a ‘huge gamble’.
Smith was released on parole in February after spending 28 years behind bars for the second-degree murder of four-year-old Derrick Robie in 1993, when Smith was just 13 years old.
He is now living in Queens, New York, having been released following arguments he is no longer the same man he was in 1993.
Joni Johnston, a clinical forensic psychologist who evaluates inmates who are up for parole, argued: “He has changed. We all change. … And you kinda go, ‘What else can he do?’ … to prove that he is no longer a danger to society. … now we’re at the point where it becomes, is this about punishment or about rehabilitation?”
Johnston has never met Eric Smith, but looked at his case following a request from CBS’ 48 Hours.
Tunney, on the other hand, prosecuted Smith’s case. During an interview with 48 Hours contributor Jim Axelrod, Tunney expressed belief that only time will tell whether Smith will follow through with his hopes of getting married, starting a family and pursuing ‘the American dream’, as he has previously described.
Axelrod described Smith’s release as a ‘little bit of a gamble’, to which Tunney responded: “Oh, no, no. It’s a huge gamble. This parole decision is a high-risk enterprise, to be sure.”
Robie was found dead in a small patch of woods in August 1993 after setting off to a park down the street to attend a recreation program. His mother, Doreen, usually watched her son make the short trip but on that morning let him go alone down the dead-end street as his baby brother was being fussy.
The four-year-old had been choked and beaten to death with rocks, with Tunney saying it is ‘hard to comprehend somebody doing what Eric Smith did’.
After Smith was granted parole, Doreen Robie said she understood ‘why after so many years they decided to give him a chance’.
“And that’s fine, you know for him and his family,” she said.
The mother expressed hopes ‘true healing’ can begin now that the family no longer has to deal with parole hearings, and said a big part of the healing process has been letting go of her anger.
“I would rather laugh than cry any day of the week … If you let it, it’s going to eat you alive.”
The Robies now focus their attention on friends and family like their son Dalton, now 30.
