Woman, 32, 'who shot dead her rapist as he choked her brother' asks judge to recuse herself from the murder trial because she 'accused her of destroying evidence and rejected her self-defense claim'

An Alabama woman who said she killed a man because he raped her and then attacked her brother has asked a judge to recuse herself from the murder trial. 

Brittany Smith, 32, wants Jackson County Circuit Judge Jenifer Holt removed from the case after she alleged the defendant tried to 'alter or destroy evidence'. 

Smith claims she was brutally raped and beaten by Todd Smith, no relation, at her home in Stevenson in January 2018. She says she then shot Todd dead as he choked her brother, Chris McCallie - but her claim of self defense was denied in court. 

Judge Holt said in public comments made in February that Smith gave testimony that didn't line up with medical evaluations and other evidence at the scene.  

Now, in a filing to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, Smith's attorney wants Holt removed over comments she made rejecting the self-defense claim, AL.com reports. 

Declining to dismiss Brittany's murder charges, Judge Holt wrote: '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.'

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Brittany Smith, left, wants Jackson County Circuit Judge Jenifer Holt, right, to step aside

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Smith claims she was raped by Todd Smith, pictured, at her Stevenson home in 2018

Judge Holt added: '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.

'The physical evidence is inconsistent with the defendant's statements about a sexual assault.' 

Smith's attorney attorney Ron Smith, no relation, writes: 'The petitioner is entitled to a fair and impartial judge but also to a fair and impartial jury. 

'The numerous prejudicial comments in the trial court's orders, have diminished the likelihood that Defendant will retain her right to a fair and impartial jury.

'A reasonable member of the public might reasonably question the trial court's impartiality at that trial.' 

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Brittany, left, says she shot Todd dead as he choked her brother, Chris McCallie, right 

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Brittany's brother Chris McCallie, left, went to her house to confront Todd after she told him what happened. Brittany says she fired her brother's gun three times at Todd while he was holding her brother in a headlock and he was turning blue

Holt will have to respond to the claims by June 24. She has already declined to step down after an earlier appeal from the defense team. 

Smith had filed to drop the charges under Alabama's Stand Your Ground Law which states that one may use physical force against another in the name of defense and to defend a third person from unlawful force.         

Brittany could spend up to life in prison if convicted of fatally shooting Todd Smith. 

She said she fatally shot Todd while he was holding her brother in a headlock and threatening to kill them all, according to testimony given at a recent court hearing. 

Brittany's brother was at the house to confront Todd, who was accused of raping, strangling and assaulting her earlier in the night, and threatening to kill her if she told anyone.

Brittany's lawyers had argued that she should be granted immunity under Alabama's Stand Your Ground Law because she feared Todd Smith would kill her or her brother. 

But the judge said that Brittany Smith did not need to use lethal force to end the altercation, and that her brother was also an aggressor because he brought a weapon to the home and started the confrontation.

In the murder case, prosecutors argued in court that Brittany's brother McCallie was the one who initiated the confrontation with Todd Smith during the January 2018 killing.

They said that because he brought the gun to the scene, Brittany was not entitled to Stand Your Ground.

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DailyMail.com uncovered a disturbing history of violent crime and domestic assault committed by Todd Smith, pictured, against multiple women spanning decades

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Judge Holt said in public comments made in February that Smith, pictured, gave testimony that didn't line up with medical evaluations and other evidence at the scene

In the grisly case Brittany claims Todd Smith, 38, choked her to the point of unconsciousness and raped her in her home in Stevenson Alabama on January 15, 2018 and threatened to kill her if she told anybody.

The next day on January 16 Brittany's brother Chris McCallie went to her house to confront Todd after she told him what happened.

Brittany says she fired her brother's gun three times at Todd while he was holding her brother in a headlock and he was turning blue

After the incident a sexual assault nurse documented more than 30 injuries on Brittany including bruises, bite marks and signs of strangulation. 

But the nurse couldn't determine with certainty if Brittany had been raped, but noted that most sexual assault cases lack physical proof.

The judge ruled that the evidence was consistent with physical assault, but inconsistent with sexual assault. 

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Brittany Smith, left, could spend up to life in prison if convicted of fatally shooting Todd Smith, right. Brittany and Todd Smith are not related

As Brittany faces a murder trial and the possibility of life in prison, DailyMail.com uncovered a disturbing history of violent crime and domestic assault committed by Smith against multiple women spanning decades. 

Court and arrest records in his hometown of Jasper, Tennessee, just across the state border from Brittany's home in Alabama, reveal that Smith, 38, had been arrested a staggering 71 times since 1999.

In July 2002 he embarked on a brief and violent marriage to Paige Parker, 37. Smith was arrested five times in the course of the marriage that lasted less than one year and ended in divorce in June 2003. 

Smith also fathered a child by a woman, Amanda Reed, with whom his relationship was clearly every bit as turbulent.

He was charged with domestic assault against Reed three times, in 2012, 2015 and 2016, but on two of those occasions the charges were dismissed as, court records noted, 'Victim has not been coming to court dispite (sic) officer's best efforts.'