Smith's innocence touted by community members

NEWARK - For three days this week, the viewing gallery in Judge David Branstool's courtroom has been nearly full as community members and supporters of Steven L. Smith observed his trial.

Smith was convicted Thursday afternoon of possession of cocaine and trafficking in cocaine and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

To have a full courtroom for the duration of a multiday trial is a rare occurrence.

One of the people who attended the trial was Irene Kennedy, a former Newark City Council member. Kennedy said she met Smith through the Freedom School, a community group Smith was involved with focused on education and awareness of community issues.

Kennedy said she supported Smith and his family because they are a part of the community and believed Smith was innocent of the charges.

"The policemen and those folks, they see such awful things happen with drugs, I'm sure they want to do away with drugs and they're working hard to do that," she said. "Maybe they can get a little overenthusiastic."

Tim Huffman, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Newark and a retired theology professor, attended the trial and said he did not have a preconceived notion of Smith's innocence or guilt.

Huffman also is a member of The Advocate's editorial board.

He said he met Smith through Big Mommas' House of Chicken and Fish, the restaurant Smith owned. He said he had concerns about whether Smith, who is black, would be treated fairly.

Huffman said before the verdict he thought the trial went well and he was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of Smith's guilt.

Kennedy, Huffman and David Greene, another supporter of Smith who attended the trial, expressed concerns and questions over how a package containing a kilogram of cocaine was delivered to Smith's restaurant.

All three people questioned the lack of direct evidence of drug sales by Smith or out of his residence and said they wanted to know who sent the package, which was intercepted by the Columbus Division of Police and a federal drug task force at a Columbus FedEx facility in July.

The package was listed as being sent from Santa Ana, California, according to testimony offered at trial.

Huffman said he also was concerned about the racial aspect of the case but said he hoped "an all-white jury can give the benefit of the presumption of innocence."

Huffman, who is white, has a black son and said he had a "heightened sense of concern for him in places like Newark," especially watching cases such as Smith's.

"All the law enforcement officers were white. Everybody else in the courtroom was," he said. "I don't know if people talk about it in seminars or behind closed doors."

There was an African-American in the jury pool, but that person was not selected to be on the 12 person panel.

Other attorneys have raised questions in past trials about the process by which jury pools are randomly selected. Prospective jurors are called to jury duty through voter registration.

Huffman said he did not have a solution for how to create a more diverse jury pool.

Greene, the president of the Freedom School, said he has known Smith for about five years and knew him to be a "consistent community advocate."

"I believe very strongly Steven is innocent," Greene said. "He's not someone who wants to bring misery to people's lives. I don't believe Steve has had anything to do with drugs at all."

Greene said before the verdict that a guilty verdict would be a "miscarriage of justice," a thought he echoed in the courtroom following the verdict being read. Greene said he would support Smith in an appeal.