By: Felix Allen

A MOTHER of four who shot dead her rapist is facing a murder trial after a judge rejected her defense under Stand Your Ground laws.

Brittany Smith, 32, says she was acting in self-defense when she fired at Todd Smith who was choking her brother after he rushed to help her.
Brittany claims she was raped twice, strangled and beaten unconscious by Todd — who was high on meth — at her home in Stevenson, Alabama, in January 2018.
She says she managed to tell her brother Chris McCallie, who confronted the alleged rapist.
But raging Todd got Chris in a chokehold and was threatening to kill them both when she opened fire.
She said she shot him twice, but he kept choking Chris until the third bullet struck.
A sex assault nurse found more than 30 wounds — including bruises, bite marks and signs of strangulation — on Brittany’s body after the fatal shooting.
But within 48 hours she was charged with murder and spent four months in jail and another six in a psychiatric institution.
At a Stand Your Ground hearing last month, lawyers tried to dismiss the charge arguing she fired to protect herself and her brother.
Alabama’s law allows citizens to use lethal force against someone they believe threatens their safety while committing a burglary.
Lawyers argued that applied to Todd because he refused to leave Brittany’s home, reports AL.com.
But Judge Jenifer Holt ruled she was standing between Todd and the door when she fired, giving him no way out.
And she said the defendant was not entitled to the defense because it was Chris who brought the gun and “initiated” the confrontation.
A written judgement said yesterday: “The court finds that the defendant has given inconsistent accounts of the events surrounding Todd’s death, beginning with the 911 call… and has attempted to alter or destroy evidence.
“The court further finds that the defendant’s testimony about material facts was significantly at odds with the physical evidence, exhibits and other witness testimony.”
Brittany now faces a trial and possible life imprisonment.
She sobbed after the ruling and told AL.com: “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”
At an earlier hearing, Brittany testified Todd had threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the rape.
At one point a concerned cashier at a Mapco gas station spotted her injuries, but Brittany begged her not to call the cops.
“If the police were involved, I would be dead right now,” Brittany told The New Yorker last month.
“He told me that, and after what he put me through I believed him.”
Instead she wrote his name on a piece of paper, saying if she died he was the killer.
Back at home, she says her brother was turning blue and not breathing when she shot Todd.
The siblings initially told police that Chris had fired the gun.
They later explained they believed women who defend themselves did not get a fair trial in Jackson County.
Her trial is scheduled to begin next week.
But it could be delayed as her lawyers plan to appeal the ruling.
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