The jury returned its verdict after one day of deliberation, and acquitted Smith on all counts.
Smith, 42, formerly a teacher at McMicken Heights Elementary School, was accused of abusing a boy for more than two years after first having sex with him at age 14.
The one-time elementary school teacher was named “Teacher of the Year” for the region in 2012.
“Darcy and her family want to thank all of those former students, colleagues, and friends who have expressed their unwavering support and belief in her innocence throughout a difficult time,” her attorney, Brad Meryhew, wrote in a statement on Thursday.
Read the full story here.
Will she get her job back–with back pay and benefits?
Shes still on adminstrative leave so I think her job is still available. Back pay and benefits? This was a criminal case so if she wants that she can file a civil suit against the accuser and seek damages. I dont think the school district had any liability on this
Why not? Cops that do criminal acts often get back pay.
Ok, I am confused. She didn’t have sex with the 14 year old? Or the prosecutor couldn’t prove she had sex with the 14 year old?
How could a teenage kid convince anybody that this happened? With enough credibility to force an innocent person to go through a trial?
He might be able to do it once or twice but I would think his story would start to unravel fairly quickly if it weren’t true.
I think it was hard because she is a teacher that did allow a troubled student to live in her home. I think that raised a lot of red flags. But, my daughter was in her class the school year before this started. The teacher would tell stories about this student that lived with her. He had issues, and when he didn’t get his way, he acted out. Ms. Smith tried to make him stay in school and when he decided he wasn’t going to, she didn’t allow him to live in her home anymore. I believe that he made this accusation because he was angry with her. Of course, this is all hearsay, but it makes complete sense. Ms. Smith is an amazing teacher and we were SO shocked about the allegations. My daughter has known all along that she would be found innocent and today we are very happy that she gets to take her life back!
His story did unravel. In fact, he told so many lies to the investigator and the prosecutor that he got totally confused and fell apart on the stand. How did it get this far? The sheriff’s deputy who did the investigation neglected to interview anyone who lived in the house at the time, or spent a lot of time there. Her husband wasn’t even interviewed for a year and a half after charges were filed. 3 people who he claimed “witnessed” them having sex denied seeing anything at all. The sheriff’s deputy didn’t do any kind of a thorough investigation, and she should have to pay the county back for the hundred of thousands of dollars this trial cost.
It took the twelve jurors only one ballot to unanimously find her not guilty on all counts. I know this, because I attended the trial.
No one outside of the jury room knows how many ballots they took, but the end result is a unanimous vote and she should be able to start getting a normal life back now. I’m sure it won’t be easy.
As you were not in the jury room you have no idea how many times they balloted. They took the afternoon of 3/9 and the morning of 3/10 to deliberate and come to a consensus.
So what is the punishment for the ungrateful teenage thug who lied about this?
He should be prosecuted!
For one I am glad this teacher has been found not guilty. Now I think the state should get involved and make a law keeping students from living with their teacher or any teacher unless if its the teachers own child. With all the stuff that goes on with situations like this it just leaves to much opportunity’s for mistakes to be made or a relationship to go were it should not.
Well, I agree that the state should make a law. However, the law should be to hold those accusers accountable for the same penalty that the teacher would have received if they were found guilty. Don’t get me twisted, I don’t condone rape and believe that if a person was raped, the victim should be heard and their case taken seriously. However, in THIS specific case, this was an opportunistic miscreant who was looking for money and he should be held liable for wasting taxpayers money, making a false accusation, and intentionally causing irreparable harm to this teacher. She obviously was a fantastic teacher (teacher of the year), loved by all, and stood by her students according to others comments above. Apparently, this idiot’s story unraveled horribly during the trial (#claire) but guess what?… in the end, he still wins. He just walks away with no repercussions for making up a bull**** story while this teacher loses her career, salary (was on unpaid admin leave), and even if she does get her job back, this will always be a blemish on her record even though she was completely innocent. The liar just walks away unpunished while the winner still loses…it’s unjust and there is no equity or good conscience to this. The law needs to protect the good teachers out there and prevent instances like this from occurring by students with an axe to grind.
If anyone wants to find out if there will be justice for Darcy and and deterrence for other false accusers this is the contact information for the district attorney’s spokesman on her case.
http://directory.kingcounty.gov/EmployeeDetail.asp?EmpID=31745
Name: Dan Donohoe
Title: Media Relations Manager
Group: King County Prosecuting Attorney Office (PAO)
Email: dan.donohoe@kingcounty.gov
Mail Stop: KCC-PA-0400
Primary Phone: 206-477-1203
Fax: 206-296-9013
Reports To: Leesa Manion
Primary Location:
King County Courthouse
516 Third Ave Rm 400
Seattle, WA 98104