Booking photo for Cody C. Smith (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — A judge has refused to dismiss the criminal case against Cody C. Smith, a 45-year-old former Logan man accused of sexually abusing a young girl. Judge Thomas Willmore denied the defendant’s two claims that prosecutors failed to provide evidence in the case or delayed his rights to a speedy trial.
Smith participated in a virtual hearing in 1st District Court Thursday morning, appearing by web conference from the Utah State Prison. He was previously charged with five counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony.
Smith, who is representing himself, is already serving a 10-years-to-life prison sentence on similar charges. He continued to argue that prosecutors had withheld evidence from him, including a video of the alleged victim where she reportedly denies the sexual abuse. He also claimed they were prohibiting the victim from testifying during any of the hearings.
Cache County Chief Deputy Attorney Spencer Walsh disputed the claims, stating the defendant appeared to be playing games with the court. He noted, Smith had never filed a subpoena for the alleged victim to testify.
Judge Willmore ruled against the motions, noting the defendant had previously waived his rights to a speedy trial. He also said prosecutors had provided evidence and the only setbacks in the case were due to Smith choosing to represent himself and being incarcerated.
Smith is alleged to have molested and groped the young girl multiple times, between 2010 and 2012. The alleged victim told investigators how the defendant touched her several times while she was bathing. He also allegedly molested her while she was sleeping and watching a movie.
Smith has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He claims the allegations are false and the girl was “coached” what to tell law enforcement.
Smith was originally arrested in March 2013, accused of encouraging a teenage girl and her boyfriend to engage in sex while in his home. The girl also said Smith molested her on multiple occasions.
During his trial in January 2015, Smith accepted a plea deal, pleading “no contest” to two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, where he neither admitted guilt nor disputed the charges. The plea deal kept the victim from testifying against him in exchange for prosecutors recommending a lesser sentence.
Thursday, Smith claimed he didn’t know what he was doing when he accepted the plea deal, partly because his defense attorney was belligerent to him and he was exhausted with the trial process. He continued to tell the court that he was innocent and just wanted to go home to his children.
Judge Willmore questioned why Smith would have ever signed the plea deal if he didn’t understand the conditions or sentencing recommendations that went with it. He noted the COVID-19 pandemic had caused unforeseen delays cancelling a previous jury trial. He ordered Smith to appear again Jan. 11 for a status hearing.
Judge Willmore did grant a 404 C motion from prosecutors, allowing them to use some evidence from Smith’s prior conviction in his new case.
Smith was a reserve officer, volunteering with the Logan City Police Department, after graduating from the police academy in the mid-90’s. He volunteered for the Cache County Sheriff’s Office from May 1999 to October 1999. He was hired full-time but terminated shortly after for not meeting department standards.
will@cvradio.com