An autopsy to determine the cause of death will be performed by the state medical examiner, Michael said. On Dec. 29, 1998, the then 27-year-old Smith had been a police officer for two years when he shot and killed 19-year-old Franklyn Reid of New Milford while trying to take him into custody. Witnesses who were driving by the two men along Park Lane (Route 202) and standing at a gas station across the street said Smith had Reid face down on the ground. A jury acquitted him of the murder charge, but convicted him of first-degree manslaughter, and he was sentenced to six years in prison. The state Appellate Court threw out the conviction after finding the trial judge improperly had excluded testimony about Smith's training and did not properly instruct the jury on the law regarding self-defense.