A former defensive end for the Los Angeles Raiders was convicted late last week of three murders, but was spared a fourth guilty verdict stemming from the 2008 shooting death of a man in the Antelope Valley.
Anthony Wayne Smith, 48, will likely serve a life sentence without parole for the Nov. 10, 1999 shooting deaths of brothers Kevin and Ricky Nettles, who were kidnapped from a Los Angeles carwash, and for the June 24, 2001 stabbing death of Dennis Henderson whose body was found in a rental car in Watts.
Jurors found true the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, murder involving the infliction of torture and murder during the commission of kidnapping. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 21 at the Lancaster courthouse.
Superior Court Judge Daviann L. Mitchell declared a mistrial on the fourth count involving the Oct. 7, 2008 shooting death of Maurilio Ponce after jurors reported they had not reached a unanimous verdict on first-degree murder. Prosecutors will reportedly attempt later to retry Smith for Ponce’s killing.
The jury deliberated for most of eight days. One of the jurors wrote a note to Judge Mitchell asking about how the verdict forms were handled for the Ponce killing; the judge said the verdict for first-degree murder had been left blank and the verdict for second-degree murder had been completed. The judge refused to allow the prosecution to strike the charge of first-degree murder (of Ponce), finding that the latter could be perceived on appeal as pressure for the jury to reach a verdict on that count. A previous jury in April 2012 was deadlocked 9-3 in finding Smith guilty of murdering Ponce who was found shot to death near the Antelope Valley poppy fields. While he was awaiting trial for the Ponce murder, Smith was charged with the other three murders.
Smith, a Raider’s top draft pick in 1990 out of the University of Arizona, played for the organization between 1991 and 1997. He’s been in jail since March 2011.
