In a ruling that sparked a heated debate over First Amendment rights, a judge in Loudoun County rejected a motion to dismiss disorderly conduct charges against Scott Smith, the father who confronted a school superintendent about handling his daughter’s rape case.
Smith’s daughter had been sexually assaulted by a “gender fluid” boy in the girl’s bathroom, which the superintendent allegedly concealed.
Smith attended the school board meeting in Loudoun County over the district’s transgender rights policy, a few weeks after his daughter had been sexually raped by a student who had also sexually abused another student at a different school.
Scott Smith was arrested for obstruction of justice and disorderly behavior in June 2021.
Judge Howe Brown ruled that they had enough evidence to prosecute him for disorderly conduct by saying the word “bitch” to a leftist activist who was reportedly taunting him over the rape of his daughter.
Smith was denied his right to a jury because the charge was a misdemeanor. However, with the assistance of Republican state Sen. Bill Stanley as his attorney, he appealed the conviction and successfully dropped the obstruction charges last year. The prosecution led by Eric Olson fought to uphold the disorderly behavior charges, leading to the recent ruling by Judge Brown.
Judge Howe Brown set a trial date for September 25, signaling that a jury will ultimately determine Smith’s fate.
WUSA9 reported:
Defense attorney William Stanley, a Republican Virginia senator, argued there is not enough evidence to indicate his client riled up the crowds, which intensified as soon as the school board ended the meeting. Stanley argued Smith reacted to a woman who aggressively approached him and threatened to ruin his business. Court transcripts from a previous hearing said Scott Smith had his fist clenched by his leg, leaned forward and called her an expletive.
“A threat of a potential battery is not a crime,” Stanley said during the court hearing Thursday.
Judge James Brown agreed with Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen who argued the case should go to a jury trial. Brown said he believes the facts are “sufficient enough to let it go to the finder of the fact.”
The judge also believed Smith’s behaviors that night could incite violence.
“I’ll keep fighting this and I will win but, in the meantime, it’s more pain on me and my family,” Smith told WUSA9. “If we can’t stand up and defend our families with our hands at our side and use our loud voice to call someone a name, what has this country come to?”
Scott Smith is also blasting Youngkin, saying he has never heard from the governor since the case reached national attention.
