Miami Football Player Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor

BY MARIAH SCHLOSSMANN
Miami University journalism student

Miami University football player Zach Smierciak pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor charge of reckless assault related to an incident outside Brick Street bar.

The first-degree misdemeanor was a step down from the original charge against Smierciak. He was initially charged with felonious assault after a Nov. 6 incident in which he shoved a ladder as he exited the bar, throwing employee Robert Null to the ground below.

According to an Oxford police report, Smierciak was kicked out of Brick Street at 1:35 a.m. After shoving the ladder, he ran to another nearby bar, where Brick Street employees tackled him and held him until police arrived.

Suspended from team

After the incident, Miami's football program suspended Smierciak. The 22-year-old from Aurora, Ohio, is a senior engineering management and pre-med student.

According to OPD, Null, a senior economics major at Miami, was unresponsive with a cracked skull after the fall. He was taken to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford, and then flown to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center due to the severity of his injuries.

On Thursday, Smierciak’s defense attorney, Neal Schuett, accepted the charges on his client’s behalf.

Butler County Area I Court Judge Robert Lyons recited the charges against Smierciak and notified him of the rights that he was giving up by entering a guilty plea to the misdemeanor charges against him.

“You understand that you are giving up your right to a trial, your right to a trial by jury, your right to call witnesses on your behalf?” said Lyons.

Smierciak declines comment

Lyons also informed Smierciak that he was not required to testify and he maintained his right to remain silent. Smierciak, wearing a sports coat and tie, offered only “yes, sir” and “no, sir” to all of Lyons’ questions.

When asked if he would like to say anything, Smierciak turned to his attorney, waited for a notice, and then declined to testify.

Five individuals were subpoenaed to appear at Thursday’s hearing. In addition to Null, Jacob Hayes, Mark Ledermeier, Nicole Ortner and David C. Currier Jr.

Hayes and Ledermeier are the Oxford police officers who responded to the incident on Nov. 6. Ortner is an employee at Brick Street who was present at the scene, and Currier was a bystander at the scene.

Null waited in the courtroom with his parents until Smierciak was called to the podium. He then moved closer to the judge's bench with his attorney.

Lyons asked Null if he would to speak to the court. Null declined, saying "I'd rather just hold it" until the next proceeding.

Officers Hayes and Ledermeier also declined to speak when offered the opportunity. No other witnesses spoke.

Lyons scheduled Smierciak’s sentencing for Jan. 5, 2017, at 10 a.m. in the Area I Courthouse, to allow time for the completion of a pre-sentence investigation.

As he left the courtroom, Null said he always wishes the best for himself, but hopes the best for Smierciak as well. “I’m happy to see that things worked out the way that they did,” he said.

Smierciak, accompanied by his parents and several other family members, declined to comment.

Photo: Zach Smierciak was in court in Oxford on Thursday. -- Contributed photo.