Case closed against accused Barron Collier football coach, district clears him to teach, coach

CCSO

• Name: Smith, Johnny Drummond
• Charge: FUG FR JUST/JACKSONVILLE/DOMESTIC BATTERY
• Residence: Naples
• Age: 38
• Occupation: Gym teacher
• Case #: O2008020256AFF

Follow this case online: Collier County Clerk of Courts
Please note: Most cases require 5-7 days to be inputted into the public court record.
This gallery is compiled by the Naples Daily News staff from written reports by Naples police, Collier Sheriff‘s Office, Marco police and other agencies. Arrests indicate suspicion of crime, not guilt. To report a crime or suspicious activity in your neighborhood, call the Naples Police and Fire Department at 213-4844, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office at 774-4434 or the Marco Island Police Department at 389-5050.

Photo by GREG KAHN

Johnny Smith coaches the defense during friday night football as Barron Collier had their homecoming game against Golden Gate High School on Oct. 30, 2009. Greg Kahn/Staff

BC's Johnny Smith denies allegation

NBC-2 gets statement from coach

JACKSONVILLE — Update: 1:29 p.m.

The district just received confirmation from the Assistant State Attorney in the 4th Judicial Circuit, that all charges have been dropped against Johnny Drummond Smith.

"As such, Mr. Smith has been cleared to his teaching and coaching duties effective immediately,” said Allun Hamblett, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer.

From earlier

The state attorney’s office in Jacksonville reported today that the “case is closed” in the domestic violence arrest earlier this week of Barron Collier High School assistant football coach Johnny Drummond Smith. A clerk at the state attorney’s office said she had no additional details when questioned shortly before noon today by a Daily News reporter who flew to Jacksonville this morning.

Smith was arrested in Collier County on Monday on a warrant for a domestic violence incident that allegedly occurred a year ago in Jacksonville. Smith, who is the defensive coordinator for the Barron Collier football team, was suspended from coaching duties pending more information on the charges. Smith has denied the charges and the school district says records show that he was teaching and coaching in Collier County a year ago, when the alleged incident occurred in Jacksonville.

Collier County School District officials said they had no knowledge of the State Attorney's decision Friday and had not cleared Smith to return to work.

Phyllis Wiley, assistant state attorney for domestic battery cases with the Jacksonville State Attorney's Office, has confirmed that the state has no case with Johnny Drummond Smith.

"I was unable to locate the witness or the victim and we dropped the case," Wiley said. "He has no case with us. No charges. Nothing."

However, Wiley did not know how long it would be before the closing of the case is recorded by the Duval Clerk of Courts.

Collier County School District Chief Administrative Officer Allun Hamblett said Thursday that the district does not have enough documentation to allow Smith to return to the district.

A worker at the Duval Clerk of Courts said the case may not be filed with the clerk until next week.

Stay tuned to naplesnews.com for more information on this developing case.

UPDATED: 9:08 P.M. THURSDAY

It would be the ultimate defensive play. Being in two places at the same time, hundreds of miles apart.

Johnny Drummond Smith says he doesn’t understand how authorities could accuse him of that theoretical impossibility. In fact, he said it doesn’t matter who is accusing him of what, he just wants to go back to work.

“I just want to more or less get this stuff behind me and get my tail back to work and back to coaching. That’s what’s killing me right now,” Smith said at his East Naples apartment. “I’m not a homebody and I don’t like sitting at home, but that’s what I’m doing right now.”

Authorities allege Smith, 38, was in Jacksonville before 4:25 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008, dragging a woman down a staircase by her hair and then slashing at her with a knife.

But Smith, his co-workers and his employer all say he was substitute teaching and coaching Barron Collier High School football in Naples on the same day.

A two-day jail stay, getting a lawyer, having his mugshot broadcast by the media, missing work, and missing a practice to coordinate the Cougars defense before the Class 3A regional quarterfinal against South Fort Myers High School today are among the racking costs for being accused of a crime he said he didn’t commit.

Up next? Missing the big game.

Smith was arrested Monday on a fugitive from justice warrant after a Collier County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted his car and did a background check. He was put on leave from his job with the school district Tuesday.

The warrant was the result of a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office domestic violence incident report in which two women, the victim and Moquitta Jackson, 24, who was at the victim’s residence at 1857 West 13th Street in Jacksonville, accused Smith of the crime.

Before refusing further comment on the situation, including revealing the name of his attorney, Smith said he has “no clue” of even who is accusing him and that authorities had not been in contact with him since his release.

“I don’t know. I’m just trying to do the best I can trying to straighten it out as quickly as I possibly can,” Smith said at home, dressed in Barron Collier blue and white shorts and T-shirt. “Like I told them, I’m just trying clear my name. I know it wasn’t me so that is what it boils down to.”

A number listed for Jackson, the witness, was not answered multiple times Thursday. The victim’s name was redacted from the incident report. No one was available to comment at the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court State Attorney’s Office in Jacksonville on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, Collier County School District spokesman Ryan Schwartz said the district can confirm Smith was teaching on the day in question.

Allun Hamblett, deputy chief administrative officer for the school district, said Smith had met with district administrators Thursday. He said some information from Jacksonville arrived late Thursday and would be reviewed, but that the necessary documents needed to return Smith to work have not yet come in.

“When we have the documents, we will release him to go back to the classroom,” he said. “But we need more information. The safety of the students is our first priority.”

Barron Collier football head coach Mark Ivey says Smith could never have committed the crime, that it must be mistaken identity, and said he remembers his defensive coordinator being at practice on Nov. 13, 2008.

“I know he didn’t do it,” Ivey said Thursday. “In my opinion, he got shamboozled one way or another.”

Barron Collier receivers coach Michael Huffman also came to Smith’s defense, saying he remembers Smith being at practice the day of the report as well.

“I have worked with him for eight years, and there is no way that he was involved in the incident that has been alleged,” Huffman said via e-mail. “A fine man has been dragged through the mud for no reason.”

- - -

Staff writers Adam Fisher and Kate Albers contributed to this report.

POSTED EARLIER

Johnny Drummond Smith says he hates being at home.

"I just want to more or less get this stuff behind me and get my tail back to work and back to coaching. That's what's killing me right now," Smith said at his East Naples home. "I'm not a homebody and I don't like sitting at home, but that's what I'm doing right now."

The 38-year-old Barron Collier High School football defensive coordinator was not allowed to attend practice today, and said he has "no clue" if he will be able to participate in the Cougar's game tomorrow, a Class 3A regional quarterfinal against South Fort Myers High School. Stuck at home, the coach was dressed in blue shorts and a white t-shirt, the school's colors.

Smith reiterated Thursday that he has no idea why he has been accused of committing a domestic violence offense in Jacksonville. He said authorities haven't told him who the victim is and have not been in contact with him since being released from jail.

"I don't even know anyone in Jacksonville," Smith said.

Smith said two days in jail and the cost of getting a lawyer is the price he has paid for being accused of a crime he didn't commit. When asked if his lawyer said anything about damages he may be awarded for the situation, Smith said he can't talk about it.

Asked if he knew of anyone living at the Jacksonville address where the offense was reported, Smith said it doesn't matter to him.

"I don't care about any of that. I really don't," Smith said. "I just know that it wasn't me. I'm just trying to get it figured out in the next couple of days or whatever it takes. I'm just ready to get back to work."

POSTED EARLIER

A Barron Collier High School football coach has been placed on leave following his arrest on a warrant charging him with domestic battery in an altercation in 2008 in Jacksonville.

But the team’s head coach says it is a case of mistaken identity because the coach was in Collier County teaching and at a practice when the attack is said to have occurred.

Johnny Drummond Smith, 38, was arrested Monday night by Collier County Sheriff’s Office deputies on a fugitive from justice warrant out of Jacksonville on a domestic battery charge.

Smith listed his occupation as a gym teacher at Barron Collier. He is currently defensive coordinator for the Cougars football team. Barron Collier plays South Fort Myers on Friday night in the first round of the high school football playoffs.

Smith was placed on leave Tuesday, said Allun Hamblett, executive director of human resources for the Collier County School District, declining to immediately say whether it is paid or unpaid leave.

Collier school officials found out about the arrest Tuesday and began an investigation, which is ongoing, into the matter, Hamblett said.

The district had no further immediate comment.

The turmoil the Barron Collier football team could be in just two days before a playoff game should have been avoided because it is a case of mistaken identity, according to the Cougars’ head coach.

Cougars coach Mark Ivey said the Collier County Sheriff’s Office jailed the wrong man. The warrant is out of Jacksonville from November 2008. Smith wasn’t in Jacksonville at that time, Ivey said.

“In that time frame, Johnny Smith was not in Jacksonville nor anywhere close,” Ivey said. “You have to live somewhere for there to be domestic violence, and he’s never lived there in his entire life. It’s a terrible case of mistaken identity.”

A police report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office lists the domestic dispute as occurring at 4:10 p.m. on Nov. 13, 2008.

Ivey said records show Smith was substitute teaching a physical education class at Barron Collier that day, a Thursday, and the following day, on Friday, Nov. 14, 2008.

Ivey said the school district has records of Smith teaching those days, but he didn’t have copies of the records to make available to the Daily News on Wednesday night, and district administrative offices were closed Wednesday night.

The Cougars head coach added that Smith was at football practice on Nov. 13, 2008, and said Smith was on the sideline for the Nov. 14 game at Immokalee High School.

“I can testify to the fact that (Smith) was at practice that Thursday,” Ivey said. “He’s never missed a practice in eight years. As it stands now, it’s almost completely and totally humanly impossible for him to have done this.”

Ivey said with a common name like Johnny Smith, his assistant coach must have been confused with another person. The coach said Smith is out of jail and attempting to clear his name.

Smith bonded out of the Collier jail at 12:28 p.m. Wednesday. Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Michelle Batten said reports didn’t state the amount of the bond.

Smith defended himself and backed up Ivey's claim.

"I was working the day it happened," Smith told NBC-2. "I just want everybody to realize that that I'm not the person that they're saying I am."

According to a Jacksonville police report, Smith is accused of striking a woman, pulling her hair, throwing her down some stairs and cutting her with a small knife. The alleged attack occurred on Nov. 13, 2008, at an apartment at 1857 West 13th St. in Jacksonville.

The victim told police she had an intimate relationship with Smith for about a year and the two had been separated for about four months. The victim told police that when she told Smith that the relationship was over, he didn’t want anything to do with it. The victim then reported Smith hit her with an open hand in the face, grabbed her by the hair and took her from the apartment, down a set of stairs, to the parking lot.

The victim told police that once in the parking lot Smith continued to strike her in the face and body, and at one point pulled out a small pocketknife and tried to cut her.

A witness, Moquita Jackson of Jacksonville, told police a similar story, saying she saw Smith strike the victim, pull her hair, drag her down the stairs and then take off in a blue Chevrolet Impala after more arguing.

When police asked Jackson about Smith holding a knife, she stated that she saw something silver in his right hand.

Jacksonville police said they witnessed three parallel abrasions on the victim’s left arm but thought the wounds were more consistent with being scratched by fingernails.

A Cape Coral address, 1107 22nd Terrace S.E., was given for Smith on the incident report.

Barron Collier hosts a playoff game Friday. The Cougars play South Fort Myers in a Class 3A regional quarterfinal.

Smith wasn’t at practice Wednesday, but Ivey said he hopes the issue is resolved Thursday and that Smith returns to the team in the afternoon.

Coach Smith wouldn't elaborate, but he says deputies have him confused with someone else.

"I hate it for the kids — my students and my players — and I'm going to do everything possible to clear my name," Smith told NBC-2.

If Smith cannot coach Friday night, Ivey said, the Cougars will be in good hands. Assistants Kevin Monohan and Charles Shanks would take over defensive coordinator duties.

“We hope and pray that (Smith) is on our sideline,” Ivey said. “If he’s not, I know he’s taught these (players) well enough that the defense will step up and play to another level to cover the fact that they’re a man down. There’s no doubt we’d all rather have Johnny there.”

Anyone who knows Smith knows that violence would be out of his character, Ivey said, and he painted the picture of Smith as a kind-hearted man dedicated to helping children.

Smith works with mentally disabled children at Barron Collier, according to the Cougars’ head coach. Smith has worked with disabled students since his days at Cypress Lake High School, south of Fort Myers.

Ivey and Smith have worked side by side for eight years. Smith joined Ivey’s coaching staff at Cypress Lake in 2002, when Ivey became the Cypress Lake Panthers’ head coach. When Ivey moved to Barron Collier in 2007, he brought Smith with him.

“You will not find a person that is more concerned about kids and their well-being than Johnny Smith,” Ivey said. “He has been a great role model and mentor for kids here and at Cypress Lake. In eight years there hasn’t been a time when he was not trying to prepare our kids to succeed in life. That’s why this whole thing is confusing and very upsetting to me.”

According to Smith’s personnel records on file at the district offices, he is a 1990 graduate of Immokalee High School.

He has worked on and off for the district since 2000, his file shows. That year he was working at Immokalee High School, then resigned the following year to take a job with the state Department of Juvenile Justice.

He returned to the district, becoming a substitute teacher and later an aide at Barron Collier High in 2008. Then, when a position opened up in January 2009, he was hired as an exceptional education teacher, records show.

A comment in his file about his hiring said: “He was one-year only in the same position. He did a great job. We are bringing him back.’’

The only negative mark in his file is an October 2000 note about using district e-mail to communicate with a woman during school hours and he was admonished to stop doing that, to concentrate on working with his students, or face losing his position.

A Collier County deputy ran a license plate check Monday evening just after 8 p.m. on a 1993 Buick driving southbound on Airport-Pulling Road and it came back to Smith. At that time, the deputy learned of the outstanding warrant issued in December 2008.

The deputy then approached Smith after he got out of his car at the Wal-mart neighborhood store on Airport-Pulling Road. According to the arrest report, Smith said he didn’t know about the warrant.

Ivey said Smith has handled the issue calmly, which has allowed him to begin to clear the issue quickly.

“I can’t say enough about how calm he’s been throughout this whole thing,” Ivey said. “To be framed and messed over this badly and to be able to keep his composure, I couldn’t believe it.”