Truth VS Bias
Brittany Smith was convicted of murder in 2018 after she used force to kill an attacker inside her own home. This case has been rife with debates on both sides of the argument over whether Smith was justified in using force to kill the attacker. ..
The judge found that the defendant’s testimony about material facts was significantly at odds with the physical evidence, exhibits and other witness testimony. ..
Netflix’s documentary on Brittany Smith’s case spends only 40 minutes on the topic, and is biased in favor of the accuser.
The documentary tells the story of how Brittany Smith killed a man called Todd inside her home when he turned violent and brutally attacked and choked her. Brittany then shot him dead in self-defence when he held her brother Chris in a headlock and threatened to kill them all.
In the summer of 2015, Brittany was walking home from a night out with her friends when she was approached by two men. One of the men, who was taller and more muscular than the other, asked her for a light. When she refused, he punched her in the face and ran away. Brittany sustained a broken nose and orbital bone, as well as a concussion. She went to the hospital for three days and then went back to her apartment. The police arrived at her apartment after she called them and found that she had left her phone at home.
In this documentary, Brittany Smith has done an excellent job of balancing the competing interests of the people involved in the Flint water crisis. She has not only looked at the events from both sides, but also at what was omitted from the film. This is a valuable contribution to our understanding of what happened in Flint and why it continues to be a problem.
In 12 minutes of footage, we see Brittany in a state of panic and retorting that “he [Todd] raped me.” However, on the 911 call presented in court, complete with the transcript she confirms that he didn’t. And then goes on to say “I don’t know” when asked about why she lied to the prosecution. Furthermore, Brittany also lied about who shot Todd, claiming originally that it was her brother and then changing that to incriminate herself.
This raises big doubts about her credibility and if this had gone to a jury trial, it’s fair to say many may have questioned her too.
On the one hand, panic and fear can make one do crazy things. For example, Brittany may not have been thinking straight that night, explaining her conflicting accounts. There’s also a good deal of argument backing up why she phoned her mum rather than the police to get Todd out of the house that night. This goes on to explain the awful track record police in the county have with domestic disputes. ..
Despite the flaws in the documentary, it does an excellent job of highlighting a system that can be incredibly harmful to women. The bias against women as a whole is really compelling, and the exploration of the bias against women in general is really well done but could have been more expansive.
This documentary could have been more effective if it had used more statistics and diagrams to illustrate the number of male and female convictions in the area, which would have helped to illustrate the issue more clearly.
Brittany Smith’s death is a shocking tragedy that has left many people in the Brittany area wondering what could have happened if they had been there when she was. However, the lack of a balanced argument and an overly short and breezy look at the case makes it difficult to really understand what happened.
