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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Assault (Including Battery) |
Sentence: |
Exonerated After Conviction But Prior to Sentencing |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.43 |
Year Crime: |
2013 |
Year Convicted: |
2014 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
California |
County or Region of Crime: |
San Mateo |
City of Crime: |
Redwood City |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Colin Troy Smith was convicted on November 6, 2014 of felony assault causing great bodily injury, felony witness intimidation and misdemeanor violation of a restraining order in San Mateo County, California in 2013. Smith was a San Mateo County Sheriff's Deputy at the time of the incident, and his prosecution was based on the testimony of Smith's ex-girlfriend, Zandra Ekholm, and a man she had dated, Eric Hartelius, that Smith broke into her home and viciously assaulted Hartelius on August 17, 2013. After he was charged with the assault and released on $50,000 bond, in December 2013 Smith was arrested and charged with violating a protection order and threatening Ekholm while she was smoking a cigarette in her car. The prosecution's case presented during Smith's trial was that when he got off duty at 7 a.m. on August 17, he went straight to Ekholm's home and threatened to break the door down. When she opened the door he burst inside looking for Hartelius, and after finding him hiding in a bathroom Smith attacked him and broke his nose and eye socket. Smith presented a defense of self-defense, although he suffered no injuries during the altercation with the unarmed Hartelius. After Smith's nine day trial the jury convicted him of all charges after three days of deliberations. During Smith's sentencing hearing on December 19, 2014 the judge stated he needed more information about Smith's mental health, and ordered that he be transported to San Quentin Prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. Smith's $150,00 bond was revoked and he was taken into custody. After Smith was sent to San Quentin for evaluation, Ekholm informed the police that three months before Smith's trial Hartelius had severely beaten her, and she provided photographs showing her injuries. When the information was provided to Smith's lawyer he filed a post-verdict motion for a new trial, which was granted by San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Leland Davis in June 2015 over the opposition of the San Mateo County DA's Office. DA Steve Wagstaffe announced he would retry Smith, telling reporters, "There should be no special treatment for law enforcement." A year later, in exchange for Smith agreeing to pled guilty to violating the protection order, the San Mateo County DA filed a motion to dismiss the felony charges "due to insufficient evidence." The motion was granted on June 20, 2016. Attorneys for both Ekholm and Hartelius had informed the DA's office that if subpoened to testify at Smith's retrial, they would invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On June 20, 2016 the motion by the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office to dismiss the felony charges against Smith was granted." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
43 |
Age When Released: |
43 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"San Mateo County deputy found guilty of beating ex-girlfriend's beau has convictions erased, By Kevin Kelly (Daily News Staff Writer), The Mercury News, June 25, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.mercurynews.com/redwood-city/ci_30057091/deputy-found-guilty-beating-ex-girlfriends-beau-has |
Information Source 2: |
"Former San Mateo County deputy to be retried on stalking, assault charges, By Bay City News Service, The Mercury News, July 7, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_28496784/redwood-city-former-sheriffs-deputy-be-retried-stalking |
Information Source 3: |
"Disgraced, Convicted Former San Mateo Sheriff's Deputy Released at Sentencing: Prosecutors say that in 2013, Colin Smith found a man in his ex's bathroom and severely beat him, fracturing the man's nose and eye sockets, By Renee Schiavone (Patch Staff), San Bruno Patch, April 18, 2015" |
Information Location 3: |
http://patch.com/california/sanbruno/disgraced-convicted-former-san-mateo-sheriffs-deputy-released-sentencing |
Information Source 4: |
"Former deputy gets 90-day prison evaluation, By Michelle Durand (Daily Journal reporter), December 20, 2014" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2014-12-20/former-deputy-gets-90-day-prison-evaluation/1776425135348.html |
Information Source 5: |
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Information Location 5: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org