Jury Deadlocks Again in Trial of Ex-Dublin Prison Officer Accused of Sexual Abuse

The retrial of the final ex-FCI Dublin employee charged with sexual abuse ended Wednesday in a second deadlocked jury.

Jurors reported they could not reach a unanimous decision on whether Darrell Wayne Smith was guilty of sexual misconduct toward women formerly incarcerated at FCI Dublin, where he worked as a correctional counselor and guard.

Smith is one of 10 former officials charged in connection with abuse at the shuttered East Bay women’s prison, dubbed the “Rape Club,” after a federal investigation became public in 2021. The other nine have been convicted.

Smith faced abuse allegations from four women incarcerated at Dublin between 2019 and 2021. They testified that he pushed them up against the walls of their cells and other secluded rooms in the housing units, forced his fingers inside of them, and, in one case, compelled a woman to have sex with him.

The weekslong trial, which began in August, was Smith’s second. In the spring, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers declared a mistrial after that jury deadlocked on all of the counts against him, plus a 15th charge prosecutors later dropped.

Smith’s first jury was reportedly split evenly on his guilt and said the case lacked concrete evidence. On Wednesday, according to a court observer, several male jurors wept as they told Gonzalez Rogers they were unable to reach a consensus.

Defense attorneys Naomi Chung and Joanna Sheridan again sought to undermine the women’s testimony, pointing to rewards available to those who joined civil lawsuits against the Bureau of Prisons. They called witnesses who said the incarcerated women had been encouraged by attorneys to bring forward abuse claims.

During closing arguments, Chung argued the women stood to gain money and, in some cases, early release or asylum in the U.S. She said they viewed Smith as an easy target because he’d been demoted years earlier after facing — but ultimately cleared of — allegations of a sexual relationship with an incarcerated woman.

A defense witness, who was formerly incarcerated at Dublin, told the jury she overheard a meeting of dozens of women in the prison yard discussing how to join lawsuits against the facility. She said one woman told the others, including one of Smith’s accusers, to “jump on the bandwagon.”

It was not immediately clear how the case would proceed. Since testimony ended last week, prosecutors revealed they’ve launched a separate investigation into Smith’s finances.

The probe began after Smith’s wife testified to owning properties and cars that appeared to conflict with his sworn financial affidavit, which claimed he lacked assets to pay for his own defense.

Gonzalez Rogers demanded an evidentiary hearing on the matter. At a Tuesday hearing, prosecutors said Smith transferred more than $800,000 in assets to his wife around the time of his 2023 indictment, despite reporting $0 in “other property” that year.

Smith’s attorneys were allowed to defend his financial statements under seal. No decision has been made.

The U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment on whether it would try the case a third time.