Former Trustee Stephen Smith '88 was charged with one count of domestic battery in the presence of a minor under 16 years old, a class D felony punishable by up to three years in prison, after allegedly assaulting his wife on June 25, according to court documents obtained by The Dartmouth. Smith, a criminal law professor at the University of Notre Dame, appeared in St. Joseph Superior Court in South Bend, Ind., on Sept. 13. His trial will begin Jan. 3.
The documents allege that Smith tried to punch his wife, Lora Gallagher Smith, on June 24 after she said something that upset him. When his wife dodged the blow, Smith pushed her to the floor and kicked her on her right hip, according to the South Bend Police Department report written by Officer Brad Ernsberger and obtained by The Dartmouth.
Smith's 23-year-old son told police officers who arrived at the scene that night that the couple's 10-year-old son was in the room next to his parents at the time the alleged incident. The older son instructed the younger son to call the police, and after briefly fighting with his father, the older son succeeding in getting his younger brother and mother out of the house and to another location nearby, the report said.
Lights were being turned off in the house when the police arrived at the scene later that evening, so officers surrounded the area in an attempt to illuminate the house. Smith exited the house on his own accord and was arrested, according to the report.
Smith's wife said in a statement to police that her husband "gets angry at her frequently and it is not uncommon for him to assault her." The oldest son told officers that "lately the fighting and beating [had] been becoming more frequent," the report said.
Smith pled not guilty to the charge and posted $1,000 bond in June, according to The Observer, Notre Dame's student newspaper.
Smith could not be reached for comment by press time.
Smith is currently still teaching a criminal law course at Notre Dame, university spokesman Dennis Brown said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Even if found guilty of domestic battery, Smith may still be permitted to teach at Notre Dame, according to Brown.
"We look at every case individually," he said.
Brown declined to comment further on the matter.
College alumni closely involved with the Board of Trustees said in interviews with The Dartmouth that Smith's alleged actions will not impact the Board or the Dartmouth community as a whole.
The investigation into Smith's alleged actions is still on-going, and members of both the Dartmouth and the Notre Dame communities who are familiar with Smith warned against drawing conclusions as to the outcome of the court proceedings.
"We don't know all the fact [sic] and I think we would all be well-served by not leaping to conclusions and letting the process run its full course," Todd Zywicki '88, a former trustee, said in an email to The Dartmouth. "There is a lot more to this story and it is much more complicated than news reports have indicated."
G. Robert Blakey, a law professor at Notre Dame who, like Smith, teaches criminal law and procedure, said in an email to The Dartmouth that Smith is a "great guy" and that the charges may not be accurate.
"[Smith] should never have been arrested," Blakey said in the email. "[His arrest] shows the injustice of a mandatory arrest policy."
Association of Alumni President John Daukas '84 said the news is "very sad" for Smith's family but that it does not affect Dartmouth and does not change the work Smith did for Dartmouth when he served as a trustee.
"[Smith] tried to do his best for Dartmouth as he viewed what was best for Dartmouth," Daukas said. "I didn't agree with him sometimes, but I respected him."
Smith was elected to the College's Board of Trustees in May 2007 as a petition candidate with over 54 percent of the vote. In June 2011, Chairman of the Board Stephen Mandel '78 announced that Smith would resign after completing his first term.
Smith clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge David B. Sentelle after graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law. Smith majored in philosophy and history at the College.
