State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith

To call this a documentary to begin with is a total inaccuracy. It is instead what I term a "mockumentary" where facts are glazed over and a story told that bears the bias of the producers of this film.

Lest I misquote something, listen to facts with a report originally seen on Local 3 News, a CBS affiliate in Huntsville (2022). Then pull up another local newspaper article as posted by news organization WHNT in September 2023. These two sources begin to offer different pieces of the puzzle that paint a very different portrait of Brittany Smith.

She has proven herself to be a scoundrel who flauts her probation violations--testing positive for alcohol and other drugs during her time on probation. She didn't complete court ordered courses. She also found her way back into court in 2023 when she was convicted of a double arson which carried a substantial sentence.

I realize that the report was zeroing in on Brittany, the wronged woman who stood up for herself by murdering her abuser and is left to suffer the fallout from a system that failed her. However, after reading a very different side to the whole story, her convictions and punishment for crimes committed are absolutely justified.

ALWAYS CHECK THE FACTS. Netflix aired a badly flawed report. I wonder if they actually performed their own due diligence prior to putting this on streaming. I find that I"m spending a lot less time on documentaries aired by Netflix and realize that they are not committed to a full and fair disclosure of ALL the facts--just the facts, mam.

This is an extremely biased piece of work. It muddles an extremely complicated situation to conform to the author, and director's, narrative.

The author, Elizabeth Flock, has written about this case and made this poor piece of film. Rather than using the facts and details to tell the story, she is selective to the point of extreme bias and the utilises victimisation to try to support her point of view, such "there are no perfect victims", which there aren't, but that does not make it ok to try to frame information to shape your narrative.

Ultimately, there is no question that Brittany is a victim of abuse. That does not justify the crime she committed in this instance.

What was played down was the testimony Brittany gave, she lied and changed her story, this makes the ability to trust her account difficult. Additionally, McCallie came back to the house with a gun rather than informing the police, these are only a couple the facts totally played down by Flock.

Just read up on it, this particular case is not a "stand your ground is for white men" example and Elizabeth Flock is our looking for more of these cases now... no one ever seems to have explained let the evidence lead you to the outcome to her, she is clearly working backwards from an outcome.

This was a simple story; not a fantastical one. Told respectfully. The fact the prosecutor and the judge declined comment, meant this could only be told this far. The take-away from watching this is that the judicial system in Alabama is still heavily prejudice towards women (and as stated, towards minority groups).

I found this an honest portrayal of life for communities, that suffer the ills of neglect and financial hardship. Banality and rampant drug abuse - a common source for this self destruction that leads to the penal system mill; is a forever told story, but one that never ceases to draw attention and doesn't appear to want to fix itself. Selfish, tired and old; this kind of governance eats it's young and tube feeds it's corrupt establishment. This is the story of a broken system with it's pitiful outcome.

Leaves you empty but how else to tell it.

Important and a lesson to be learned documentary on the judicial and civil rights of womanhood.

A man shot cause hes being a threat to the homeowner, a woman in this case, is usually coverd by an alabaman law that says you have the right ''to stand your ground''...no matter the crime, the juudge of this case overulled selfdefence in this case due to inconsistencies in a 911 call, police cam dialouges and interviews done at the station, merely things happening in the heat of the moment...

here in norway were not taking to a gun or knife to protect our grounds, usually it ends in a fight on the knucles, but selfdefence killings have occured every 2-3 years. So ''having the lawfull right'' to... well it sounds absurd because here in norway we have a lawset common right to trespass as long as its done in a sensible way and has a reason. Also the equality of genders have come farther than in the southern states of usa...so there is some primitiveness over the fact that such a law exists at all in my mind...

but thats just a grumpy old mans mind, that doesnt matter at all. I consider this as a pilot project for a netflix series, its quite amazing really...

Living in the UK as I do, only came across this case / story through Netflix late one Sunday night.

I enjoy true crime stories so impressed play.

At a run time of about 40 minutes, it doesn't delve too deep, but it interviews the important people on the case including Brittany herself.

What a woman she is. What a nightmare she's lived through. What a strength she has.

The law, it is said, is an ass, in this case, the judiciary of Alabama should be hanging their heads in shame. Brittany didn't deserve this, they know she didn't, why else offer more time for Manslaughter than for murder? They wanted her convicted for murder.

If she felt a new life in the UK was for her, she'd be welcome at mine for a pot of tea and a biscuit.