Greenwood doctor faces civil lawsuit related to shooting

GREENWOOD, Miss. (AP) - A civil suit filed by the purported target of a murder-for-hire lawsuit against a Greenwood oncologist is scheduled for trial this summer in Lowndes County.

Greenwood attorney Lee Abraham's suit against Dr. Arnold Smith has a July 20 trial date, The Greenwood Commonwealth reported (http://bit.ly/1Bo2HuF ).

The trial was moved to Lowndes County at the request of Abraham's lawyers.

A shootout at Abraham's law office in April 2012 killed alleged hit man Keaira Byrd and wounded Derrick Lacy. Byrd allegedly had been hired to kill Abraham, who represented Smith's ex-wife in their divorce years ago.

Abraham was not wounded. But his civil lawsuit against Dr. Arnold Smith argues that he has had to change his daily actions and lost enjoyment of his normal life as a result of the alleged plot and the shootout.

Smith was found mentally unfit for trial on criminal charges of capital murder and conspiracy to commit murder. After a separate civil hearing this month, he was committed to the Mississippi State Hospital for treatment of mental illness.

Lacy and Cordarious Robinson, who is charged with conspiracy, are awaiting trial.

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Information from: The Greenwood Commonwealth, http://www.gwcommonwealth.com