A police investigation has determined that charges alleging a
San Benito County Sheriff’s deputy sexually assaulted an
intoxicated Hollister woman at Hazel Hawkins Hospital are
unsubstantiated.
Hollister – A police investigation has determined that charges alleging a San Benito County Sheriff’s deputy sexually assaulted an intoxicated Hollister woman at Hazel Hawkins Hospital are unsubstantiated.
Deputy Jack Smiley could return to work pending the outcome of an internal sheriff’s department investigation into the accusations brought against him by Hollister resident Rachel Sanchez. Despite the results of the investigation, Sanchez’s attorney is laying the groundwork to sue the county.
Sanchez accused Smiley of sexually assaulting her after he apprehended her in March at Daisy’s Bar in San Juan Bautista with a .36 blood alcohol level. She also said that Smiley continually called her and visited her home while on duty. Though Sanchez obtained a restraining order in April requiring Smiley to stay at least 50 yards away from her and her 7-year-old daughter, the criminal sexual assault charge was found to be unsubstantiated by the Hollister Police Department and District Attorney’s Office.
“Essentially it was her word against his,” said Hollister Police Detective Sgt. James Weathers. “There’s nothing to substantiate that a sexual assault occurred, but there’s nothing to prove that it didn’t happen either.”
Smiley was unavailable for comment and his attorney, Christopher Miller in Sacramento, declined to comment in detail on the matter Thursday.
“We’re pleased with the findings and look forward to Deputy Smiley returning to work,” his attorney said.
However, Smiley is still on administrative leave pending an internal affairs investigation into Sanchez’s claims that he harassed her at her home while on duty, according to sheriff’s Lt. Pat Turturici. Department personnel will interview Smiley next week and the investigation should be complete within two weeks, he said.
“It depends on what our findings are, whether our policies were broken,” Turturici said. “He could be fully exonerated or receive discipline – up to and including termination.”
Turturici would not comment in detail about the department’s policies regarding deputies visiting residents at their homes. Smiley patrols San Juan Bautista, and Sanchez lives in the Hollister.
“It depends on what his reasoning was,” Turturici said. “A lot of questions are going to be answered during the final investigation phase.”
Sanchez’s attorney, Bill Marder, said he filed a document with the county clerk’s office Wednesday, putting the county on notice that he plans to file a lawsuit. The county has 45 days to respond.
Marder said he plans to sue the county and Smiley personally for unspecified monetary damages for the emotional distress.
“I scrutinized this case closely for various reasons (before taking it),” Marder said. “She struck me as being very credible. I asked her very difficult questions, and she answered them all very credibly.”
Turturici had no comment on a pending lawsuit because he said he had no knowledge of Sanchez and Marder’s intentions.
Sanchez’s accusations were made public after she filed a restraining order with the court in April, which Judge Harry Tobias granted on May 10. Smiley, a four-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, did not oppose the temporary restraining order as long as it was not a permanent order, he said in court last month. The temporary restraining order will remain in effect until Aug. 2, when both Sanchez and Smiley will return to court and a judge will either dismiss the order or issue a permanent one.
Several weeks after Tobias issued the temporary restraining order, Hollister police completed their investigation into the deputy, Weathers said. He forwarded the finished investigation to District Attorney John Sarsfield Tuesday, and several hours after receiving the report, Weathers said Sarsfield informed him by phone that he would not be filing charges against the deputy.
Sarsfield sent the police department an official letter Thursday stating that his office had reviewed the case and was rejecting it. He sent the Free Lance a press release stating Smiley had been exonerated the same day.
However, Weathers said he would not characterize Smiley as being exonerated, but that the charges were not substantiated.
“The dictionary definition (of exonerate) means to clear from accusation or blame. We can’t prove a crime did or did not occur,” Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller said. “There’s no evidence to prove it one way or another.”
But Sarsfield stuck by his statement.
“They have their terms and we have ours. I’m not going to get into a squabble with the police department over how they characterize things,” Sarsfield said. “I characterize things how I want.”
Sarsfield also blasted local defense attorneys in the press statement for making “wild allegations without either conducting a sufficient investigation or with no concern for the innocent people they harm.”
Sarsfield declined to clarify what local attorneys he was referring to or why he believes it was an attorney who made the accusations.
“I think it speaks for itself,” he said.
Sanchez’s complaint and subsequent restraining order, which she filed without the assistance of an attorney, stemmed from an incident in March when Smiley took her into custody for being drunk in public with a .36 blood alcohol level at Daisy’s Bar in San Juan Bautista. She alleged that after Smiley apprehended her, the deputy sexually assaulted her with his fingers at the hospital after transporting her from the jail for public intoxication. Sanchez, who said she is taking several medications for psychological disorders, said she didn’t remember what happened until after she was released from the hospital.
She also alleged that he began calling her at home until she finally changed her phone number and that the deputy would stop by her home often.
One of Sanchez’s neighbors, Janet Finch, signed an affidavit under penalty of perjury stating she saw Smiley frequent Sanchez’s home at least twice a week and would sit in his patrol car and talk to the neighbor kids even when she wasn’t home.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
