Former Martinsville doctor convicted of prescribing over 500k opioid doses gets new trial

RICHMOND, Va. (WFXR) — A former Martinsville doctor, who was convicted of illegally prescribing over 500,000 opioid and fentanyl doses, had his sentence and conviction overturned.

According to court documents obtained by WFXR, on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, three judges ruled that during Joel Smithers’ trial in 2019, the jury was improperly instructed and the instructions were not harmless.

The case first came into the court system in 2019, when Smithers was charged and accused of illegally prescribing more than half a million opioid doses including oxycodone and oxymorphone. Smithers was previously convicted in May of 2019, of more than 800 counts of illegally distributing opioids that allegedly led to the death of a West Virginia woman.

Original Coverage: Martinsville-based doctor found guilty of more than 800 federal drug charges

Court documents show that Smithers allegedly prescribed doses of opioids to patients in Martinsville, Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia, and Tennessee.

As a result, Smithers was previously sentenced to 40 years in prison, but an appeal was filed on Oct. 3, 2019, at a Federal Court in Abingdon.

On Friday, three judges ruled to vacate the convictions. The judges determined that the instructions given to the jurors three years ago allegedly misstated the law. During the case, the jury was told, the prosecution needed to prove that Smithers prescribed the pills “without a legitimate medical purpose,” or “beyond the bounds of medical practice.”

Previous Coverage: Martinsville doctor facing 40 years appeals case

In 2020, a Supreme Court decision ruled that to be found guilty of illegally prescribing drugs, a person must “knowingly or intentionally” act in an unauthorized manner.

Smithers’s attorney says the new trial will focus solely on the doctor’s intent.

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