THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180636
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 113 lines
For Joe Smith, the conclusion of Monday's court proceedings brought whoops of joy and a cascade of relief.
But a degree of sadness lingers, for Smith knows his reputation remains scarred, and a return to normalcy is a long way off.
``It will be something that is going to hang over my head for a long time,'' Smith said Tuesday of the malicious wounding charge against him, which a Chesapeake judge dismissed after Monday's preliminary hearing. ``There's no way I'll forget about it soon.''
Smith has learned hard lessons in the nearly eight weeks since a male exotic dancer accused Smith of bashing him in the back with a bottle in a bar-room brawl. As a high-profile, highly paid basketball player for the Golden State Warriors, Smith knows he is a potential lightning rod for someone trying to strike it rich quick.
``I think Joe has to look at this as a tremendous learning experience and he has to grow from it,'' said Dave Twardzik, the Golden State general manager. ``He is in the public eye. He has to be careful where he goes and what he does. You can be targeted for something like this.''
Smith, a naturally ebullient and outgoing person, said he still does not understand why three dancers said he wielded a bottle that produced a gash requiring 22 stitches. But he knows the ordeal has changed him.
``Now I'm second-guessing people when they approach me,'' Smith said. ``I'm not as open with people as I used to be, I feel like I'm protecting myself a lot more than I used to.
``I'm not trying to drive my fans or friends away, but the attitude I have has been forced to change. I'm 21 years old, I want to do what all 21-year-old people do. It's kind of sad I can't do that because of the status I have.''
Greg ``Spanky'' Johnson, Smith's best friend from their days at Norfolk's Maury High School, said he had noticed the change. Johnson said on Labor Day weekend, a time when Smith and his friends normally would go to some clubs or parties, Smith just hung around his house.
``Because of this situation, he's really leery about going to public places where this type of situation could go on,'' Johnson said. ``If he doesn't want to go to a place, we don't ask why. We basically know.''
Although there was cause for celebration Monday for Smith and his family, there is not yet closure. The Commonwealth's Attorney could still go directly to a grand jury to seek an indictment, and the two dancers who retained lawyers could still file a civil suit.
Judge S. Bernard Goodwyn allowed Smith's three defense lawyers to put on an extraordinary amount of evidence at the preliminary hearing that lasted nearly eight hours. What he heard were:
Inconsistencies in the stories of the dancers and reasons to question their credibility.
Testimony of a defense witness that the dancers had an agreement to split proceeds of a potential financial settlement.
Five apparently disinterested defense witnesses who either saw a man almost a foot shorter than Smith commit the offense, or said Smith was at a different location in the club at the time it occurred.
The judge determined there was not probable cause to believe Smith committed the crime and thus declined to send the matter to a grand jury.
Smith lawyer Pat O'Donnell said the defense has to meet a difficult standard to get a case thrown out at the preliminary hearing.
``We were confident, but not cocky,'' O'Donnell said. ``We certainly did not believe this was a slam dunk, to use a basketball term.''
Smith was at the club celebrating his 21st birthday when the fight occurred in the wee hours of July 26. Because further legal proceedings are possible, Smith's lawyers have advised him not to give a specific account of what happened that night at Ridley's Restaurant and Lounge in South Norfolk.
However, Smith did say Tuesday he arrived with about five friends shortly before midnight. They were joined by other friends at the club.
Smith said he was drinking, but was not impaired. He denied throwing anything at a dancer performing on the stage, which the dancers testified precipitated the fight.
``I admit we were loud, but I'm not going to throw nothing at nobody,'' Smith said.
When two dancers confronted him a second time about a thrown ashtray, Smith said he backed away. That's when a fight broke out involving some members of Smith's party and the dancers. Smith said he was not involved in the fray.
``I never did anything to nobody,'' Smith said.
But Smith was accused and arrested, a story that made national news. His reputation was sullied.
``My father told me image and reputation are something it takes years to develop and you can lose it in a second,'' Twardzik said. ``Any time something like this happens, it's going to take some time to get the image back where it was before.''
Said Smith of his reputation: ``It took a big hit. I was known as a good, wholesome person who never gets in trouble. Next thing I know, something like this comes up. It tarnished my image and it really hurt me.''
But more than Smith's reputation was at stake. His future was, also.
If convicted of the felony charge, he could have faced prison time. If the judge had sent the case on to a grand jury, it likely would have interfered with Smith's second NBA season. The Warriors open training camp Oct. 4 and their first game is Nov. 1.
``He had a lot of things hanging in the balance,'' said David Delpierre, one of Smith's lawyers.
``I felt like my whole life was at a halt,'' said Smith, who noted the weeks and days leading up to the court date seemed to drag on endlessly.
The night before the preliminary hearing, Smith sat in the Norfolk home he bought for his mother, Letha, discussing the case and listening as she read Bible passages offering inspiration and encouragement to her youngest child.
``I told him to to get on his knees before he goes to bed and thank the Lord for what he has done for him, and what he will do,'' Letha said. ``I felt he would come out of this and the truth would be known, and we would hold our heads up and walk on.''
When the judge announced his decision, Letha shouted praises to God while Joe wept and hugged some of the 15 or so friends and relatives who sat behind him in court.
``Words cannot say what this has done to our lives,'' Letha said, sobbing.
``It was one of the hardest days of my life,'' Smith said Tuesday. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by BETH BERGMAN, The Virginian-Pilot
"It will be something that is going to hang over my head for a long
time," said Norfolk's Joe Smith, pictured with his attorney Pat
O'Donnell Monday. by CNB