Jury Deadlocks in 2nd Trial of Track Coach

SANTA ANA —  A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday after the jury announced that it was deadlocked in the case of a former El Toro High School track coach accused of fondling female athletes.

It was the second time in less than a year that a jury had failed to reach a verdict on the charges against Vernon Brent Smith, 52.

“I’m a little disappointed, obviously,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Simmons, who prosecuted the case, said of the announcement by Orange County Superior Court Judge John Ryan after slightly more than a day of jury deliberations. “You put on the best case you can,” he said, “and you let them decide. My opinion, after talking with the jury, was that they just wanted more evidence, but there wasn’t any more--they got it all.”

Deputy Public Defender Jeremy Goldman, who represented Smith, could not be reached for comment.

Simmons said he will announce today whether his office will pursue a third trial. “I think the evidence against him is there,” Simmons said.

Smith was accused of fondling five of his athletes, girls ages 15 to 17, in 1996 and 1997 while working as an assistant coach at the Lake Forest school. The young women testified that he would touch them improperly while giving massages or rubdowns. Smith was charged with five counts of committing a lewd act on a child of 14 or 15, and six misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.

The coach vehemently denied the charges, saying that he massaged some of his athletes to prevent and heal injuries and occasionally hugged them for support. Never, he said, did anything improper occur.

The former coach’s first trial ended in a hung jury Dec. 4 after a month of testimony. This latest trial lasted about 2 1/2 weeks.