Jury deadlocks again in trial of officer charged with sexually abusing inmates at California prison
Oakland, California – A federal jury was launched for the second time in a trial of a former correctional agent accused of having sexually abused four detainees in a federal prison now closed in California.
The prosecutors said that Darrell Wayne Smith, who worked at the Federal Correctional Establishment of Dublin, had attacked women in their cells and in the prison laundry between 2019 and 2021. He faced 14 counts linked to sexual abuse.
The jurors, who had deliberated since September 18, could not make a verdict unanimous and took place on Wednesday, KTVU-TV reported. In March, Smith faced similar accusations in a trial which also ended with a dead end.
Defense lawyers at both trials argued that there was no DNA, no forensic evidence, no surveillance video and no newspapers to prove what the government alleged.
Michelle Lo, spokesperson for the American lawyer’s office, thanked the jury for their service, but would not comment if the prosecutors would try Smith for the third time.
An Associated Press survey in 2022 revealed a culture of abuse and concealment which had persisted for years at the FCI Dublin, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of Oakland. This report led to a meticulous examination of Congress and promises of promises of the Federal Bureau of Prisons that he would solve the problems in prison, which was finally closed last year.
In a statement on Thursday, California Coalition for Women Prisoners expressed its disappointment in the face of the absence of verdict in the case of Smith. But the advocacy group stressed that nine other FCI Dublin correctional agents have all pleaded guilty or were condemned by jurors of various sexual crimes.
The former director of the prison, Ray Garcia, was sentenced at the end of 2022 for having attacked prisoners and forcing them to pose naked in their cells. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
“We will channel our indignation by increasing the movement to tackle the deep causes of this systemic violence and bringing the survivors back to the abusive prisons office,” said Emily Shapiro, defender of the coalition.
