John Tavo Leota will serve one year in the Salt Lake County Jail for killing a Los Angeles man in a West Valley disco nearly a year ago.
Leota, 19, was handcuffed and taken to jail Friday morning after 3rd District Judge Homer Wilkinson handed down the sentence, which also includes a $2,500 fine and restitution to be determined by the attorneys."This court is under the opinion that this gentleman needs to be punished," said Wilkinson, denying defense attorney Phil Hansen's request for probation.
The judge, however, did grant probation on a second conviction that Leota assaulted an Ogden youth in Club 35 on March 20, 1989. A few moments earlier on that date, Leota had punched Smith, 18, in the face after a dispute that arose over dancing. Smith fell backward to the floor and struck his head. He died two days later of brain damage.
Originally charged with second-degree murder, Leota was found guilty Dec. 7 of negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor.
During the sentencing hearing Friday, Hansen made an offhanded statement about Smith's parents' "pulling the plug" on Smith in the hospital.
That statement angered Smith's mother, Beverly Todd, who exclaimed in court, "That's a lie!"
After the hearing, Todd confronted Hansen and said, "Don't you ever say that I unpulled the plug . . . I'll sue you for slander . . . You are an inhuman man. You are an insensitive and horrible man."
Todd, a Hollywood actress, and her husband, Kris Keiser, a TV producer, called a press confereence following the verdict last month to complain about the verdict and flaws in Utah's criminal homicide statute.
Shortly thereafter, dozens of letters from friends and associates of the victim's parents poured into the judge's office.
The letters prompted the Salt Lake Polynesian community, of which Leota is a part, to call a press conference Thursday.
Saying they've heard enough from "wealthy Hollywood blacks," members of the Polynesian community spoke out in support of Utah's judicial system.
Polynesian lawyers and community members said they are tired of reading letters to the editor from Californians upset by the verdict in the Smith murder case and condemning the state's system of justice. Many of the letters have charged that the negligent homicide verdict was a product of racism, but Thursday that accusation was thrown back at the accusers.
"These Hollywood blacks are racists who would like to see a Polynesian treated differently and perhaps more severely than others under our laws," said attorney Paul Schwenke.
"We, the Polynesian community and as citizens of Utah, say to these celebrities, Utah is a law-abiding state. We Polynesians are law-abiding citizens. We demand you keep your bigotry out of this state and let the judicial process go forward."
Schwenke said he believes it was pressure from Smith's Hollywood family that persuaded state prosecutors to charge Leota with second-degree murder - a charge that was "clearly not supported by the facts."
"It was a travesty when the Smith boy died, but there will be another travesty if these people in prominent positions are allowed to influence the judicial system," said attorney Victor Lawrence.
"If we're going to sit back and allow (them) to do this, you never know what could happen," added attorney Filia Uipi.
In letters addressed to the Deseret News, Salt Lake Tribune and Wilkinson, many indicated that they would lead a boycott of the prospective 1998 Winter Olympics and threatened to warn potential visitors that a trip to Utah is dangerous.
Such threats are simply intimidation to influence the judge and affect the legal process by threatening the local economy, Schwenke said.
"These black entertainers who live in one of the most violent areas in the world outside of Beirut - L.A. County - have the arrogance to point their wealthy fingers at Utah and scream about injustice," he said.