State of Alabama vs Brittany Smith: Here’s what the Netflix documentary doesn’t show you

Netflix’s The State of Alabama vs Brittany Smith, a taut true-crime documentary from The Keepers director Ryan White, follows the distressing story of an Alabama mother who was charged with murdering a man she said raped her.

Smith’s case became the focus of an attention-grabbing New Yorker investigation, in part because Smith invoked a “stand your ground” defence. In over 30 US states, including Alabama, state law makes it legal to use lethal force to defend oneself against threats or even perceived threats. In this case, Smith was cornered in her own home by her assailant – an old acquaintance called Todd Smith – who told Smith he’d kill her if she called the police.

But her stand your ground defence failed. In fact, as journalist Elizabeth Flock, who serves as executive producer on the Netflix series, found, women are much less likely than men to successfully invoke “stand your ground”. The Independent talked to Flock about many aspects of the case and the moments that didn’t make the film’s gripping and efficient 40-minute cut.

When did the documentary start filming?

Flock met Smith, who is now 34, in June 2018 when she had already entered a not guilty plea. She admitted to shooting Todd Smith, but claimed it was in self-defence.

At the time, Flock was actively looking for a story like Smith’s. “I knew there’d been many cases of women who killed their abusers over time, and to a lesser degree, women who killed their rapist. And so, I was looking for the right current case to look at what was just happening in the modern day, how much had changed.” Cameras started rolling soon after they met, which explains how the documentary was able to capture the story starting long before the verdict.

The arresting opening scene – in which Smith invites filmmakers to look for fossils with her in the woods near her home – was among the earliest that the team shot. “That was the way that she stayed sane in Jackson County,” says Flock, “by collecting rocks.”

What happened in Brittany Smith’s legal case?

The documentary hews pretty close to the rhythms of Smith’s protracted legal battle. At one point, Smith was offered a plea deal by the prosecution that struck me as staggering: a 25-year sentence. But Flock assures me the figure isn’t an aberration: “It’s an absurd number, but I’ve seen it with a lot of cases of women who killed their abuser.” Smith rejected the plea, adamant that she won’t go to jail for a crime she didn’t commit.

But on the eve of trial, she changed her plea to guilty, accepting a 20-year sentence instead. Her time served was far less. She was sentenced to 18 months, minus the year she’d already served awaiting trial.

Who is Jeff Smith?

Jeff Smith is the cousin of Todd, neither of whom bear any relation to Brittany, which is why it’s so striking that he appears in the documentary. “When I first met Jeff, he hated Brittany,” Flock told me. “And then I saw the day that Jeff transformed.”

Flock says it happened at Smith’s stand your ground hearing. “He heard the nurse examiner testify about all the different injuries on Brittany. And it was sort of irrefutable, that evidence.”

Later, Flock says, Jeff wrote Smith a note, apologising. “Jeff and Todd were literally cousins, but they felt like brothers to each other. And yeah, I think if even he is saying that he sees that it was self-defence, I thought that was just really powerful.”

Where is Brittany Smith now?

Smith still sees her children, who are in foster care with her uncle throughout the documentary, according to Flock. In fact, right before the attack, Smith, who was previously addicted to methamphetamines, had just been approved for additional visitation.

“Now she’s in a halfway house because she relapsed. But when she’s out, she sees them as often as she can,” says Flock, who stays in touch with the family.

“I think the response locally to the film has been like, ‘Well, she’s a meth addict,’” Flock points out to me. “And I think it’s really important for people to understand that there are no perfect victims.”