LAWRENCEVILLE, GA – The Supreme Court of Georgia unanimously upheld the conviction of a man found guilty of murder while driving drunk and fleeing police.

Victor Allen Smith, 59, appealed his 2023 conviction on counts of felony murder, vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and other charges – and the subsequent life sentence – by claiming that prosecutors prejudiced the case when they presented evidence to the jury that his license had been suspended for roughly 18 years at the time of the incident.

The evidence at trial was that Smith struck and killed 22-year-old Hugo Natanael Martinez on the evening of March 6, 2022, while speeding away from a Georgia State Trooper. The trooper clocked Smith traveling “well over 80 mph” in a 70-mph zone on I-85 and attempted to pull over Smi

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