Jury split 11-1 in favor of Anthony Wayne Smith, who spent 18 months in custody for Santa Monica fire
LAX COURTHOUSE — Former LA/Oakland Raider Anthony Wayne Smith spent his first free night in nearly one and a half years at home with his wife and three children on Tuesday after a judge dismissed the arson charge against him.
The judge’s decision came after a second jury failed to reach a decision in the case. In June, a jury in the first trial ended up hung 7-5 in favor of Smith. The second trial concluded Tuesday, with jurors split 11-1 in Smith’s favor.
Smith, 37, clenched a tissue in his hand and looked down at the table in front of him as the judge issued his ruling, standing only after a long pause.
“Thank you, thank you,” sobbed Smith, choking through heavy tears. He then turned to his wife, Teresa, who sat in the front row of the courtroom and embraced her for more than a minute in silence, tears streaming down his face.
Prosecutors pursued Smith after finding 21 partially burnt pieces of mail and personal documents with his name and address inside the firebombs that ignited the 2003 fire, which gutted Simply Sofas, a furniture and antiques store on Lincoln Boulevard.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz explained he wouldn’t let the case be tried a third time, despite a strong suspicion of guilt.
“I don’t think it’s possible for any other jury to make a decision in this case... I don’t believe the people are going to be able to swing all of these votes to not guilty,” said Judge Schwartz, who also presided over the first jury trial. “You get cases sometimes where you have a strong suspicion, but the evidence in the case isn’t there.”
Smith became a suspect in the case after he and store owner Marilyn Nelson had fought over the value of items to be sold on consignment. Prosecutors called the fire a rage-filled act of revenge.
Defense attorneys pointed to Nelson as a suspect, saying she profited several hundred thousand dollars from the fire. They also said the evidence showed the fire clearly was set from within the store, and put both Anthony and Teresa Smith on the stand.
As to the documents, lawyers suggested they may have been left outside the store mistakenly by day laborers hired by Anthony Smith to help transport items between Simply Sofas, his condominium, his storage space and his liquidation business in Lancaster. Smith, a standout defensive end who said he earned $13 million during nine seasons playing in the NFL, owned and operated four small businesses.
Though several jurors thought Anthony Smith may have set the fire, all but one agreed the case against him was weak, forewoman Erika Scremin said.
Scremin, a physician who lives in West Los Angeles, also criticized Santa Monica Police Sgt. Robert Almada, a lead detective in the arson investigation. Scremin called Almada “sloppy, unprofessional and cocky.” Fellow juror Nora Frausto agreed. Specifically, they said Almada acted like a bully during taped police interrogations and apparently changed his testimony and records in an attempt to strengthen the case against Anthony Smith.
Asked about the documents inside the bombs, Frausto, a 26-year-old human resources worker also from West LA, said, “It could happen. It could. And the evidence just was not there.”
Deputy District Attorney Jean Daly said no new suspects would be tried.
“We had the right guy,” said Daly, adding it was frustrating the court excluded evidence about Anthony Smith’s previous criminal history. “The jury does what the jury does. It was a credibility decision... I don’t think his complete personality was portrayed.”
Michael Evans, Smith’s attorney, called the case a “big win.”
“There was no way he did it,” he said after the proceedings. “There was so much evidence that said he didn’t do it. I did what I had to do.
“It’s good,” he added later. “It’s relief, it’s relief.”
After collecting several dress shirts and suits that her husband had kept at the courthouse during the trial, along with plastic bags stuffed with his ties and other personal items, Teresa Smith said she was relieved the ordeal was finally over.
“He’s coming home,” she said outside the courtroom. “I’m just glad that everything worked out. We’re closing this chapter and moving on.”
Anthony Smith was ordered freed from the courthouse. Still, he was taken back into custody after the ruling to undergo a formal discharge, which often takes several hours. Asked how it felt to know her husband would be spending the night at home with his three young children in their Marina del Rey condominium, Teresa Smith smiled and said, “Elation.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 15, 2004. Read the original PDF.