Ex-Sheriff's Deputy to be Re-Tried for Beating Romantic Rival

By Bay City News Service

A former San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputy convicted of stalking his ex-girlfriend and severely beating a romantic rival in 2013 will be re-tried on the charges based on new evidence, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

Judge Leland Davis granted a defense motion for a new trial in June after Deputy Colin Smith’s ex-girlfriend came forward with allegations that the assault victim had abused her, Wagstaffe said.

Smith, 44, had only dated the woman for three months when she broke up with him and decided to give her relationship with an ex-boyfriend another chance.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Former Half Moon Bay Policeman Faces Jail Time for Assault, Violating Restraining Order
• Disgraced, Convicted Former San Mateo Sheriff’s Deputy Released at Sentencing

The night of Aug. 16, 2013, and early the next morning, days after the breakup, prosecutors said Smith stalked her outside of Redwood City bars while on duty as a sheriff’s deputy, sending her text messages and demanding
to know where she was.

Prosecutors said when Smith got off duty at 7 a.m., he went straight to her home and threatened to break the door down. When she answered, he stormed inside looking for the other man, identified in a civil complaint as Erik Hartelius, and found him hiding in a bathroom. Prosecutors said Smith brutally beat him, breaking his nose and eye socket, in an unprovoked attack.

During a nine-day jury trial last year, Smith argued that he was defending himself against Hartelius, but the jury rejected that and found him guilty of felony assault causing great bodily injury.

After the trial, the woman went to police and reported that Hartelius had abused her after the attack, information that could have bolstered Smith’s self-defense claim, Wagstaffe said.

But Wagstaffe said his office will re-try the case and he believes they will still win.

“There should be no special treatment for law enforcement,” Wagstaffe said.

In addition to the assault charge, Smith was convicted of felony witness intimidation and violating a restraining order for confronting the woman while she was smoking a cigarette in her car in December 2013. He yelled at her and told her she was going to lose, prosecutors said.

Smith remains out of custody on supervised release and will return to court Aug. 28 to set a date for a new trial. His defense attorney was not immediately available for comment.