
Murder Suspect: Excessive Caffeine Made Me Kill Wife
Kentucky man uses 'caffeine intoxication' defense
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 20, 2010 8:09 AM CDT

(Newser) – A Kentucky man charged with killing his wife has come up with a creative defense: excessive caffeination. Woody Will Smith, 33, is accused of strangling his 28-year-old wife with an extension cord last May, but his lawyer says Smith ingested enough caffeine (in the form of soda, energy drinks, and diet pills) to render him temporarily insane in the days before the murder.

“Caffeine intoxication” has in fact succeeded as a defense in at least one other case, the AP reports: that of a man who was cleared of injuring two people with his car last year. Smith claims he hadn’t been sleeping in the weeks prior to his wife’s death, because he was afraid she was going to leave him and take their two children, and that he was ingesting more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. The trial starts today.

My Take on This Story
Show results without voting  |  
23%
12%
8%
6%
4%
47%
{"cc_re__cc_re__cc_by_sa_2_0": ["size('E');\" />\r\n                                            </div>\r\n                                        </div>\r\n                                        <div id=\"divImageMainCaption\">\r\n                                            <figcaption>\r\n                                                <span id=\"LabelCaptionSourceLarge\" style=\"display:none;\"></span><span id=\"LabelCaptionSourceSmall\" style=\"display:block;\">One man accused of killing his wife claims he drank too many of these.&nbsp;&nbsp; (<a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/\" target=\"source\">&copy;</a><a href=\"http://flickr.com/search/people/?m=name&q=Simon le nippon\" target=\"source\">Simon le nippon</a>)</span>\r\n                                            </figcaption>\r\n                                            \r\n                                        </div>\r\n                                    </figure>\r\n                                \r\n                            </div>\r\n                            \r\n                        </div>\r\n\r\n                        <div id=\"divForceSt"], "copyright__copyright__copyright": ["eine intoxication\u201d has in fact succeeded as a defense in at least one other case, the AP reports: that of a man who was cleared of injuring two people with his car last year. Smith claims he hadn\u2019t been sleeping in the weeks prior to his wife\u2019s death, because he was afraid she was going to leave him and take their two children, and that he was ingesting more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. The trial starts today.\n\nMy Take on This Story\nShow results without voting\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0\n23%\n12%\n8%\n6%\n4%\n47%", "eine intoxication\u201d has in fact succeeded as a defense in at least one other case, the AP reports: that of a man who was cleared of injuring two people with his car last year. Smith claims he hadn\u2019t been sleeping in the weeks prior to his wife\u2019s death, because he was afraid she was going to leave him and take their two children, and that he was ingesting more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. The trial starts today.\n\nMy Take on This Story\nShow results without voting\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0\n23%\n12%\n8%\n6%\n4%\n47%", "eine intoxication\u201d has in fact succeeded as a defense in at least one other case, the AP reports: that of a man who was cleared of injuring two people with his car last year. Smith claims he hadn\u2019t been sleeping in the weeks prior to his wife\u2019s death, because he was afraid she was going to leave him and take their two children, and that he was ingesting more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. The trial starts today.\n\nMy Take on This Story\nShow results without voting\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0\n23%\n12%\n8%\n6%\n4%\n47%", "eine intoxication\u201d has in fact succeeded as a defense in at least one other case, the AP reports: that of a man who was cleared of injuring two people with his car last year. Smith claims he hadn\u2019t been sleeping in the weeks prior to his wife\u2019s death, because he was afraid she was going to leave him and take their two children, and that he was ingesting more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. The trial starts today.\n\nMy Take on This Story\nShow results without voting\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0\n23%\n12%\n8%\n6%\n4%\n47%"]}