Alabama News Network has confirmed that former Montgomery police officer Aaron Cody Smith faces a court hearing on February 17 that could decide whether his bond is revoked, forcing him to return to prison.
In 2019, a jury found Smith guilty of the 2016 shooting death of 58-year-old Gregory Gunn. Smith is white. Gunn was Black. Court records show Smith shot and killed Gunn after he fled from a random stop-and-frisk on McElvey Street.
Smith was sentenced to 14 years in prison in January 2020. He has served two months of that sentence before being released on an appeal bond.
In April of 2020, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed announced that the city reached a confidential settlement with the family of Gunn.
In May 2021, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals denied Smith’s appeal. Smith’s attorneys maintain that Smith fired in self-defense because Gunn was grabbing a painter’s pole from a porch, but prosecutors said Gunn was never a threat.