Defendant cleared of theft charge, guilty in fatal crash

By DAVID KARP

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 18, 2001

TAMPA -- The theory was that it all started with a stolen garage door opener.

Prosecutors charged that George Ira Smiley stole a $49 garage door opener from Home Depot on N Florida Avenue, then drove through a red light as he fled police and killed a 23-year-old mother.

On Wednesday, a jury found Smiley guilty of vehicular homicide, but innocent of stealing the garage door opener.

Prosecutors will ask Circuit Judge Ralph Stoddard to sentence Smiley, 38, to 15 years in prison.

Assistant State Attorney Art McNeil said he wasn't bothered by the jury's split verdict. He had argued that what happened during the police chase wasn't central to the case. Prosecutors only needed to show that Smiley drove recklessly as he ran a red light at Nebraska and Waters avenues.

"The main issue is: Did he run the red light? Was he speeding?" McNeil said. "That is what I tried to make the case about."

A pending civil lawsuit by the family of Svetlana Belyakova, who died in the crash, will focus on the Tampa Police Department's chase policy, which was implemented under Mayor Dick Greco.

In July 1999, Detective Grady Snyder noticed Smiley walking rapidly to his car in the Home Depot parking lot.

Snyder, who was off duty, thought something looked suspicious and followed Smiley from the parking lot in an unmarked car, turning on his flashing lights and siren.

Snyder later claimed he broke off the chase and didn't see the fatal crash. An internal affairs investigation determined he had seen the crash. He retired from the department before the internal investigation was completed.

On the stand Wednesday, Snyder acknowledged the investigation found that he hadn't told the truth about the chase.

"We had some reservations as to his testimony," said juror Kelly Moran.

But in the end, the detective's actions did not cause the crash, she said.

"I was very disappointed in the police," said juror Eva Marie Arnett. "The police officer and George Smiley should pay for what happened. Both of them we feel were at fault."

After the verdict, Belyakova's husband, a circus acrobat from Russia, thanked the prosecutor for his work. The couple's 2-year-old daughter, Yevgeniva, who survived the crash, sat in a green velvet dress, playing and speaking in Russian to her father during the trial.

Smiley's four young children held their heads in their hands and cried as prosecutors said Smiley could go to prison for 10 to 15 years. "Don't worry," Smiley told his children, as he kissed them and gave them a last goodbye hug.

A bailiff then took Smiley into custody and handcuffed him behind his back.

As McNeil, the prosecutor, walked by, Smiley told him, "Good job."

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