Domestic violence allegations and reports filed against former Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith by his ex-wife, Courtney Smith, dominated summer headlines, and the next step of the legal process took place on Thursday. According to Stadium’s Brett McMurphy, Zach and Courtney Smith agreed to a deal that puts to bed unresolved legal issues which includes a three-year domestic violence protection order for Courtney Smith, as well as a reduced charge for the former Buckeyes assistant.
This stems from the incident that began the entire saga, when Smith dropped off their child at his ex-wife’s house rather than a court-ordered public location. The citation for that incident led to the discovery of multiple domestic violence allegations against Smith, which ultimately led to his dismissal and set off a month-long firestorm leading up to the start of the 2018 football season.
Smith provided his perspective of the agreement in a statement on Twitter.
Smith was fired on July 23 after initial reports surfaced of a domestic violence allegation in 2015 when he was an assistant at Ohio State, and another in 2009 when he was on Meyer’s staff at Florida. Meyer denied knowing of the 2015 incident at Big Ten Media Days the next day, but was put on administrative leave on Aug. 1 after more evidence surfaced regarding his knowledge of the allegation. After a month-long investigation, Ohio State announced a suspension that Meyer served during the Buckeyes’ first three games of the 2018 season for covering up his knowledge of multiple domestic violence allegations involving the Smiths. That independent investigation found that Meyer’s wife, Shelley, had multiple text message conversations with Courtney Smith that included photos of the abuse.
Meyer returned to the sidelines on Sept. 22 after interim head coach/offensive coordinator Ryan Day led the Buckeyes to a 3-0 start.
Source: Read Full Article