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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 20, 2005 Man set free, acquitted of rape after six years in prison He will now serve probation for an assault that took place in jail By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune After spending more than six years in prison, a man acquitted last month of rape has been set free. Appearing in Jackson County Circuit Court Monday for assaulting another jail inmate, Anthony Dewayne Smith, 38, begged for his release and was rewarded with probation after pleading guilty to a reduced charge. In August, a retrial jury acquitted Smith of several sex crimes after he was convicted in 2000 of raping a 13-year-old girl while her mother watched. "I have been wrongfully incarcerated, fighting for my freedom for six years," Smith read from a prepared statement to Circuit Court Judge Bill Purdy. "I humbly come before the court today to respectfully ask for leniency." Smith said he pushed fellow inmate Don Paul Reis against a wall only after the other man called him a racist name. Reis, 43, suffered a possible fractured vertebra and was given a back brace, said Deputy District Attorney Tim Barnack. Advertisement "Had I really wanted to hurt Mr. Reis, I could have," Smith said. The two men argued over the use of a telephone, Barnack said, adding that the July 18 assault took place in the jail’s common living quarters where Smith was awaiting his retrial. In exchange for Smith’s guilty plea to third-degree assault, Barnack agreed to dismiss more serious charges that carry mandatory prison sentences ranging from five years and 10 months to seven and a half years. Inmates who witnessed the attack gave inconsistent stories, posing problems for the prosecution in a trial, Barnack added. Purdy sentenced Smith to optional probation for three years with 30 days in jail, which he already has served. Barnack argued for a sentence of one year and four months in prison. If Smith violates probation conditions, he could be sent back to prison for as long as a year and a half, Barnack said. "He knows what prison is, and he has every incentive to not screw up on probation," said Smith’s defense attorney Mark Hendershott, adding that Smith — an Army veteran — hoped to return to his wife and four children in Sacramento. Originally arrested in Medford in August 1999, Smith was granted a new trial on the rape case in April. Jurors in 2000 convicted the victim’s mother, 44-year-old Lynda Darlene Hill, who, prosecutors argued, encouraged sex acts between Smith and her daughter in exchange for drugs. Two other men, 36-year-old Lamar Esquire McKinzie and 45-year-old Johnny Lee Carter, also were convicted. In Smith’s case, the Oregon Court of Appeals based its ruling on a legal technicality that involved prosecutors’ failure to provide notice required for showing a videotape as evidence. Smith was brought back to the county jail in June. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail Man set free, acquitted of rape after six years in prison ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztechmedia Website Hosting Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy online casino Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Reservationstogo Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Natto Kinase Nattokinase Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Advertisement s