# Byron Smith case *A Minnesota double-homicide prosecution tried by the Washington County Attorney's Office after two other prosecuting offices declined it.* The Byron Smith case is a double-homicide prosecution in [[Minnesota]]. Washington County tried it after Morrison County and the Attorney General's office each declined it, and after the [[Minnesota County Attorneys Association]] routed the case to Washington County.[^1] According to a February 2015 Minnesota Lawyer profile, the prosecution won two first-degree murder convictions after three hours of jury deliberation.[^1] That trade-press account is the only source in the record for the case. The record does not establish the charging instrument, the court file number, the trial dates or the sentence.[^1] ## What The case reached Washington County through a referral rather than by original venue. Minnesota Lawyer reports that two offices declined it: first Morrison County, then the Attorney General's office. The Minnesota County Attorneys Association then referred it to Washington County.[^1] Washington County accepted the case, tried it and obtained two first-degree murder convictions. The jury deliberated for three hours.[^1] Minnesota Lawyer gives the Washington County [[county attorney]], Pete Orput, as the source of the office's stated reason for taking the referral: "Somebody's gotta."[^1] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record lists the case under the heading *The Referral Architecture & the County That Got the Prison Edition*. It is cited as the trade record of how the case was routed among Morrison County, the Attorney General's office, the Minnesota County Attorneys Association and Washington County.[^1] The entry rests on one news source and carries no court filing or agency record.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who Morrison County and the Attorney General's office declined the case. Washington County prosecuted it.[^1] ### What A jury in the Washington County prosecution returned two first-degree murder convictions after three hours of deliberation.[^1] ### How The Minnesota County Attorneys Association routed the declined case to Washington County.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Lawyer, *Attorneys of the Year: Pete Orput* (2015-02-20) — reports that Morrison County and the Attorney General's office declined the Smith double-homicide, that the Minnesota County Attorneys Association routed it to Washington County, and that Washington County tried it and won two first-degree murder convictions after three hours of jury deliberation. It also quotes the county attorney's explanation for accepting the case. https://minnlawyer.com/2015/02/20/attorneys-of-the-year-pete-orput/