By Beth Miller and Jose Medina
WOODLAND, CA – Defendant Dwain Desmar Smith, II—spotted allegedly beating his girlfriend by a passerby—was in Yolo County Superior Court for a preliminary hearing that was presided over by Judge David W. Reed Monday.
Smith is charged with assault by force likely to produce bodily injury and domestic battery.
On April 29, Smith was alleged to have gotten into a heated argument with his girlfriend of five years. The argument escalated to Smith allegedly striking his girlfriend. Officer Scott Farnsworth was then dispatched to the scene after a witness had claimed Smith was hitting his girlfriend.
According to Farnsworth, the witness reported to have been pulling over at an intersection in Woodland to phone his dispatch when “he had observed a male subject kicking something on the ground.”
Farnsworth added that the witness made clear to him that it was initially unclear as to what Smith was actually kicking due to the area having tall grass.
Farnsworth then recalled that the witness went back to calling his dispatcher but was drawn away from his conversation after he noticed “a female’s head rise up out of the grassy area at which time he saw the same person proceed to stomp the woman at least twice” in the area where she was lying.
Moments later, the witness observed “Mr. Smith help her up and as soon as she was standing he gave her a ‘right cross with a punch,’ indicating a punch across the woman’s head.”
Farnsworth recalled that the witness told him that after that punch “she went down to the ground again.”
The witness then told Farnsworth that moments after she went down to the ground, Smith’s girlfriend pleaded with Smith, which led him to back away. After a few moments the victim got up and Smith took her by the hand as they walked off.
Farnsworth noted that the witness described the victim as “utterly defenseless the whole time.”
Prosecutor Robin Johnson called West Sacramento Police Officer Ken Fellows to the stand, in which he accounted for his interviews with the woman, her parents, and the witness.
During the interview with the woman who was the alleged victim in the domestic violence situation told Fellows that Smith had hit and kicked her. Fellows described her as “soft spoken,” quiet, and said that she looked intimidated.
She noted pain in her neck, lower back, left torso, and left cheek, as she told the officer. She did request paramedics, but did not go with the paramedics.
While she seemingly had no immediate injuries, Fellows did notice swelling on the left side of her face and some apparently old injuries. During cross-examination, Fellows also noted that there were no marks on the woman.
Additionally, Fellows interviewed her parents. Her mother described how her daughter was not supposed to be around Smith—she described their relationship as violent on both sides. The mother also implied that Smith supplied her daughter with drugs, however that testimony was stricken from the record as lacking foundation.
Smith does have a record, including three arrests for battery on a person while dating, and according to DDA Johnson this was Smith’s second incident with this specific woman.
On the first count of assault with force likely to result in great bodily injury, as well as the second count of domestic battery, Judge Reed found sufficient evidence to hold Smith accountable for both charges.
The defense requested a 17(b) motion to reduce the GBI felony charge to a misdemeanor. It was denied.
The arraignment for Smith will occur on June 29.
Beth Miller is a junior at UC Davis studying Public Service and Gender Studies. She is from Ventura, California, and aspires to promote justice and equality in a continuously evolving society.
Jose graduated from UC Davis with a BA in Political Science and has interned for the California State Legislature. He is from Rocklin, CA.
To sign up for our new newsletter – Everyday Injustice – https://tinyurl.com/yyultcf9
Support our work – to become a sustaining at $5 – $10- $25 per month hit the link:
