Jury convicts former Sheriff Laurie Smith of six civil counts

Former Santa Clara Sheriff Laurie Smith, at an August 2022 news conference, was charged by a civil grand jury but left office at the end of her term before the jury reached a verdict. File photo.

A jury today has returned a guilty verdict on six civil counts of corruption and willful misconduct against Laurie Smith, who resigned as sheriff Monday.

However, she will not be punished. The charges were civil accusations brought by the county civil grand jury, and the only penalty they carried was removal of office. Smith removed herself from office on Monday. She had planned to retire at the end of the year.

She had been accused of running a scheme in which only campaign donors received gun permits from the sheriff’s office. In addition, she was accused of failing to cooperate with an outside investigator who was looking into problems at the county jail. Other charges said she didn’t report Sharks tickets as gifts on financial disclosure forms.

2 Comments

  1. What a monumental waste of time.
    The Court of Appeals will reverse Judge Fineman’s decision not to dismiss the case as soon as Smith retired. Rosen is an embarrassment as a DA.

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