Minnesota Board of Pardons commutes life sentence for murder

Minnesota officials commuted a first-degree murder sentence Wednesday, setting the perpetrator on a path to release after more than 30 years in prison.

Carlos Smith, 50, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1994 for killing Dural Woods in St. Paul. He also received eight years for aggravated robbery in an attack on another man, Raymond Barnett.

But Smith and advocates for him argued to the Minnesota Board of Pardons that he had made significant strides since he entered prison at the age of 19.

“I am no longer that illiterate, desensitized teenager,” Smith told the board, “and I no longer believe I am my life sentence. I am much more than that.”

The board — made up of Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson — voted unanimously to commute the sentence. Smith is now eligible for a parole board hearing.

“After 32 years in prison...candidly, I don’t see where the four more years serves either justice nor society,” Walz said before recommending Smith’s commutation.

Hudson said Smith’s crime was brutal but that he had done his best to make amends.

“Your rehabilitative journey is remarkable,” Hudson said. “It is precisely the kind of thing that we would hope to see in the justice system.”

The judge at Smith’s original sentencing called his crimes among “the most vicious and violent crime [cases] I’ve had occasion to preside over.”

No one spoke at the hearing on behalf of the victims, Woods and Barnett, or voiced opposition to Smith’s commutation.

Speaking over Zoom, Smith, who is incarcerated at Minnesota Correctional Facility in Moose Lake, apologized to the families of his victims for his actions and for not apologizing at his original trial. He said if he is released, he’ll visit his mother and grandchildren and share his story to help change lives.

“If given mercy here today, I will apply my vocational training, college degree and pursue a career that will mirror my current peer recovery specialist certification,” Smith said.

He said he’ll continue to work with Dennis Donovan, a professor at the University of Minnesota, who brings students to correctional facilities to learn from inmates’ life stories. Donovan said Smith is “truly a mentor to those young men who are incarcerated” and noted Smith had attended anger therapy.

“It takes courage to look at your demons and wrestle with them to become a better person,” Donovan said.

Smith’s friend Antonio Williams, who was incarcerated with him and now runs a reentry program, called him an “inspiring example of how to come back from your worst moment.”

Much of the audience in a committee room at the Minnesota Senate Building broke out in applause after Walz, Ellison and Hudson voted. Williams said the crowd gathered for Smith’s hearing was a testament to the lives Smith has touched.

“This is a testament to Carlos’ spirit and character,” Williams said, adding that Smith had been able to “read outside of those walls and touch people’s hearts.”