New Netflix show lifts lid on mum jailed for murdering man 'who raped her in her own home'

A new Netflix show has lifted the lid on the shocking true crime case of a woman jailed for murdering a man who 'raped her in her own home'.

Brittany Smith, 34, from Stevenson, Alabama, shot and killed Todd Smith, 38, in January 2018, but to this day maintains that it was an act of self defence.

The case is explored in new documentary State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith, which examines whether or not she was justified in shooting Todd after he allegedly choked her, assaulted her and threatened her with murder in her own home.

This culminated in Brittany's decision to shoot him, which caused many to believe she was unjustly sentenced to 20 years in jail after the killing.

While she only ended up serving 18 months in prison including time in custody prior to the trial, the case raised huge questions about the state's treatment of women in domestic violence cases.

Particularly as it later emerged that Todd had various charges and arrests to his name, including domestic violence, as revealed by the MailOnline.

He had been arrested 71 times.

The show's official synopsis reads: "This documentary tells the harrowing story of a woman trying to use Alabama's Stand Your Ground law after killing a man she says brutally attacked her."

Brittany says in the Netflix trailer: "I was arrested for murder, the man was in my home. I did what I thought I had to do because if I wouldn't have, my brother and I would both be dead.

"I want to get my children back. I want them to know that mommy's not a murderer and that mommy defended herself - and that you should always defend yourself."

Netflix / State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith

Brittany's mother Ramona McCallie added: "She was raped and beaten by him and almost killed, and now, she's been raped and beaten by the system.

"She never should have been [taken] to jail. I taught her to fight, fight back, with everything you've got. And she did."

Todd himself was not a total stranger to Brittany, and the pair had known each other as teenagers, but fallen out of touch and reconnected shortly before the murder took place.

He was a pitbull breeder, who was homeless at the time of their reconnection, and Brittany allowed him to live with her because she wanted one of his puppies.

However, according to her, once he was inside her home, he attacked her and threatened murder if she dared tell anyone what happened.

But when her brother Charlie discovered the horrifying truth, he arrived at her home with a firearm, and Todd proceeded to attack him too.

Netflix / State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith

It was at this point, Brittany claims she had no option but to kill or be killed.

A complicated trial followed that concluded there wasn't enough evidence to determine that Brittany had been raped, even though she had more than 30 injuries that were not deemed consistent with sexual assault.

While she tried to use the stand your ground defence, which permits physical force when threatened by an intruder, the judge did not accept it.

Brittany therefore had no option but to plead guilty to murder.

She told Alabama.com from prison: "I'm really disappointed with having to take a plea deal. I'm not a murderer but when it's the lesser of two evils what can you do?"

Following her release in May of last year, Brittany still had to serve another 18 months on house arrest and a further five years under supervised probation.

State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith will be available to stream on Netflix from 10 November.