Jury told ride home from party led to knife attack

Late yesterday afternoon in the General Sessions Court, an Oconee man gave his account of what happened the night after Christmas in 2017 when he was knifed inside a moving car on a dark road between Seneca and Clemson. Michael Thomas Reid put the blame on Clifton Eugene Smith, a man who had an off and on relationship with Reid’s mother. The jury was told that Smith, Reid, and Reid’s mother had left a family Christmas gathering in Central and were going down two-lane Davis Creek Road when Smith turned and slashed Mr. Reid multiple times with a pocket knife. Reid credits the happenstance arrival of two off-duty fire fighters and their medical expertise for saving his life. But from the defense, the jury was introduced to a different version of the events. Smith’s attorney, Lee Cole, introduced self defense as the explanation for what happened. Cole says Reid’s knife wounds were preceded by Reid slapping Smith and ordering him to shut up while the three traveled home. Testimony in the trial resumes at 9:30 this morning at the Oconee Courthouse.