A Rutherford County woman convicted of first degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder was told that her appeal has been denied. The denial was filed by the courts on April 22, 2014.
Mindy S. Dodd was sentenced to life in prison plus 25-years after she took part in the murder of Sherman Henry Dodd, her step father. Mindy Dodd was reportedly impregnated by Sherman Dodd, who was later her husband. Sherman Dodd’s nephew, James Smallwood, was the one who reportedly pulled the trigger to kill his uncle. Mindy Dodd supplied the nephew with the gun that killed the uncle. Smallwood said that it was Dodd’s idea to kill her husband, according to past court documents.
J. Paul Newman, the Assistant District Attorney of Rutherford County, discussed the case in this interview recorded on July 4, 2014 (18 min and 47 sec)...
One of the reasons Dodd asked for a new trial is because she claims that new evidence has arisen in her case however, she waited too long to file the appeal on the grounds of new evidence. Dodd also suggested that she may have suffered from Battered Women’s Syndrome, but the courts suggested she was aware of that at the time of her previous trial.
Life in prison - parole is in the future:
- Dodd will remain behind bars for the remainder of her life unless she is paroled in the future. Dodd is 46-years old today and will be 86 when she is eligible for parole.
- As for James Smallwood, he is 37-years old today and will be 78-years old when he is eligible for parole.
According to the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee at Nashville:
“The facts of the case may be found in this court’s opinion of State of Tennessee v. Mindy S. Dodd, No. M2002-01882-CCA-R3-CD, 2003 WL 22999444, at *1-4 (Tenn. Crim. App. Dec. 23, 2003) perm. app. denied (Tenn. June 1, 2004). In October of 2004 the petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, and this court affirmed the trial court’s denial of the petition. Mindy Sue Dodd v. State of Tennessee, No. M2006-02384-CCA-R3-PC, 2007 WL 2949020 (Tenn. Crim. App. Oct. 10, 2007). The petitioner then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus which a federal district court denied. Mindy Sue Dodd v. Jewel Steele, No. 3:08-0468, 2008 WL 4572571 (M.D. Tenn. Oct. 8, 2008). She next filed a petition for writ of error corram nobis on July 11, 2011, which the error coram nobis court denied. On September 10, 2013, the petitioner filed a pro se petition for writ of error coram nobis.”
Source:
No. M2013-02385-CCA-R3-ECN - Filed April 22, 2014
2009 Supreme Court of TN Denial of Mindy Dodd Application
