Smith Testimony Disputes Warren Seahawks Running Back Says He Had No More Than 3 Beers

Seattle Seahawks running back Lamar Smith testified Monday he had no more than three beers before moving on to a bar prior to an accident in which he is charged with vehicular assault.

In his first day on the stand, Smith took issue with fellow tailback Chris Warren, who testified earlier that Smith probably had at least four beers at a pool hall after practice on Dec. 1, 1994.

“Two, maybe three. I nursed a third one. I know it wasn’t five or six,” Smith told a King County Superior Court jury. “I know I didn’t drink four.”

Under questioning from his defense lawyer, Allen Ressler, Smith said he didn’t pay any attention to how much or what brands of beer his teammates were drinking at Shark Klub, a tavern where the team’s running backs regularly shot pool Thursday nights to build camaraderie. Warren paid the tab.

“I didn’t go there to get drunk. That’s not the purpose of it,” Smith testified. “The purpose of it is just to get sociable with the other running backs.”

Court was recessed for the day before Smith could be asked about additional drinking at the bar, TGI Friday’s, or about the wreck that night that left Mike Frier, a 6-foot-5 defensive tackle, paralyzed from the waist down.

Smith suffered ankle and back injuries, and Warren had some broken ribs. All three were in Smith’s black Oldsmobile Bravada.

Suburban Kirkland police say Smith was drunk when his vehicle swerved around another car and crashed into a traffic median and power pole.