After 11 hours of deliberation, court recesses in Smith trial

Friday, September 12, 2014
Putnam County Sheriff's Department Deputy T.J. Smith leaves court after Tuesday's session.

TERRE HAUTE -- At the 11th hour and after nearly 11 hours of deliberation Thursday, a federal court jury deciding the fate of a Putnam County Sheriff's deputy was dismissed for the night without reaching a verdict.

U.S. Federal Court Judge William T. Lawrence recessed court for the night at 10:15, instructing jurors to return at 10 a.m. Friday to renew deliberations in the police brutality trial of Deputy Terry Joe (T.J.) Smith, 37, Greencastle.

A weary-looking group of jurors, unable to render a verdict in the four counts facing Smith Thursday night, filtered into the jury box as the judge told them it was "rare occurrence that jurors are allowed to separate" after once beginning deliberations.

"To do that," the judge continued, "is a risk to us."

He ordered the 12 jurors and two alternates not to discuss or deliberate any aspect of the case with anyone, not a spouse or a girlfriend or a parent or child.

"No sites, no Google searches, nothing," Judge Lawrence stressed.

The jurors were told to reassemble Friday at 10 a.m. in the jury box, 30 minutes after the judge and attorneys in the case meet at 9:30 a.m. to commence the fifth day of proceedings in the Smith case.

"A thug with a badge," is how federal prosecutor Bradley Blackington referred to Smith in his closing remarks Thursday morning at the U.S. District Courthouse.

Photographs of Cletis Warren and Anthony Dodson with bloodied, swollen faces were presented to the jury as prosecutor Mary Ann Mindrum addressed the jury in closing remarks that started at 9 a.m.

"This is what happens when Terry Joe Smith shows up at a crime scene," she began.

The prosecution summarized the events of each of the four incidents brought against Smith, arguing that the suspects were either under the control of fellow officers or could have been controlled without the use of force employed by Smith.

Defense witnesses Tony Keith and David Gruner were called into question as the testimony they provided in the grand jury investigation differed than the testimony given during the course of the trial, prosecutors stressed.

Mindrum discussed two criteria for the jury to consider while deliberating the case.

The first was to determine whether Smith used unreasonable force and the second was to consider if he had the intention of using unreasonable force.

The defense asserted that Deputy Smith couldn't be found guilty, because he wasn't.

"This is an actual innocence case," defense attorney John L. Tompkins of Indianapolis said, echoing his opening remarks from the trial's start Monday morning.

He continued to explain that police work isn't always nice and pretty.

"Police brutality is not a crime. Police must be brutal," to maintain their effectiveness in a community, Tompkins told the jury.

With the burden of proof resting upon the shoulders of the prosecution, Tompkins told the jury to thoroughly test the case brought against Smith.

Smith never exhibited unlawful intent, Tompkins said, adding that he hoped "the government cannot build a case beyond a reasonable doubt against an innocent person."

"I say it again," the defense counsel added. "T.J. Smith is innocent of all four of these allegations.

"Legally speaking," Tompkins said in summation, "they (the prosecution) didn't prove their case, and in the real world it is because T. J. Smith is innocent."

Tompkins also tried to inject the notion that "a deep divide" exists within the Putnam County Sheriff's Department, telling jurors they may have "sensed that deep divide" in the testimony of other officers.

"But I'm not going to speculate ..." he added, dropping the subject.

Prosecutor Brad Blackington called it "nonsense."

"He (Tompkins) wants you to believe there is a political divide in Putnam County, but says, 'I won't speculate on that.' But he sure wants you to," Blackington told jurors. "He wants you to think that four officers lied because of some political divide that there is no evidence of ... He wants you to make up something out of thin air."

The defense tactic is nothing more than a "red herring," the federal prosecutor said.

Invoking his past experience prosecuting gang members, drug dealers and other dangerous criminals, Blackington put this week's case into perspective during final arguments.

"This is the only case I've ever tried where there's nothing to laugh about," he said, explaining that even in serious cases moments of humor often arise in a wiretap conversation or via colorful characters in spite of the true nature of the case.

Blackington called Smith's innocence into question, asking the jury what motive the testifying officers would have in speaking out against him.

"What's their reason for lying about their brother officer?," he asked.

Blackington told the court that the cloak of innocence with which a defendant begins a trial had been removed by the evidence brought against Smith.

"What you see here is a thug with a badge," Blackington told jurors.

Blackington argued that Smith had betrayed the duty an officer of the law is supposed to have while protecting and serving their communities and honoring a sense of justice.

He maintained that Smith took the law into his own hands, choosing to "honor his own sense of justice, which is warped, and choosing to honor his own sense of manhood, which is warped."

"Seven police officers testified T.J. Smith used excessive force, and unlike Tony Keith, they have no evidence of bias," the prosecutor stressed.

"This case is about duty," Blackington added in his summarizing statements.

That duty now rests with the jury, he added.

"Because Terry Joe Smith can't protect and serve the public, and Sheriff (Steve) Fenwick wouldn't do it," Blackington told jurors, "it's up to you to protect and serve the community."

The four counts of police brutality pending against Smith are:

-- A Nov. 6, 2011 incident outside Moore's Bar involving Smith allegedly using a taser on Anthony Dodson.

-- At Sept. 7, 2012 incident on West Stardust Road in Cloverdale involving an alleged punch to the face of Cletus Warren.

-- A June 26, 2013 incident at Lazy Acres Trailer Park involving Jeffrey Land allegedly being thrown to the ground by Smith as he was putting him in the back of a squad car.

-- A Dec. 28, 2013 incident at the Cloverdale Truck Stop involving Smith allegedly forcing Amber Stwalley to the ground face first into lava rocks in freezing temperatures.

If convicted, Smith could face up to 40 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines.

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  • It is hard to convict a cop, no matter what they do, no matter how brutal. Unless something is done to rein in the increasingly aggressive police, we will move ever onward toward a police state, if we aren't there already. People are already becoming more reluctant to call the police because of fear of what they will do.

    -- Posted by Agent 007 on Fri, Sep 12, 2014, at 11:22 AM
  • If I worked in a prison and referred to an inmate as a "Thug" I would be severely reprimanded.

    It is very wrong of federal prosecutor Bradley Blackington to referred to T.J. Smith in this manner. "A thug with a badge", is politically incorrect and gravely offensive.

    I object!

    I say we need to ring out the old and bring in the new...everyone at the PCSD.

    -- Posted by 1rose1 on Fri, Sep 12, 2014, at 11:24 AM
  • If he is not convicted I pray our new sherriff is smart enough not to keep him on the force.

    -- Posted by Hazel on Fri, Sep 12, 2014, at 12:37 PM
  • I believe the merit board will decide if Smith remains employed at the PCSD (if it comes to that).

    If this paper printed exactly what was being said in the court room, I beleive a lot of people reading these articles would not be so quick to judge. I can tell you with 100% certainly there is much more being said and the Banner has reported this case very one sided. With the exception of 2 officers that had similar stories all other testimony was inconsistent at best. I have found tribstar.com is more accurate with what is actually going on in the court room if anyone is interested in the whole story.

    -- Posted by beheard04 on Fri, Sep 12, 2014, at 2:15 PM
  • Just went to Tribstar.com and didn't see much of a difference in what's been reported.

    -- Posted by kbmom on Fri, Sep 12, 2014, at 6:24 PM
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