Jury Selection Set To Begin In Trial Of Seahawk Back

Lamar Smith, a two-year running back for the Seattle Seahawks, is headed to trial for vehicular assault in a December 1994 traffic accident that left a former teammate in a wheelchair.

Smith, 25, was driving when his car hit a utility pole on a rainy night near the Seahawks’ headquarters in suburban Kirkland. Defensive tackle Mike Frier was in the back seat and Chris Warren, Seattle’s three-time Pro Bowl running back, was in the front passenger seat.

The 26-year-old Frier sustained a broken neck. He is paralyzed from the waist down and is not expected to walk again. Warren sustained fractured ribs.

Prosecutors contend Smith was drunk at the time. If convicted of vehicular assault, Smith could face a sentence of three to nine months in jail. The maximum penalty is five years imprisonment.

Smith has pleaded innocent. His lawyer, Allen Ressler, has said there is significant evidence that Smith was neither drunk nor impaired.

Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the King County prosecutor’s office, said pretrial motions and jury selection before Superior Court Judge Linda Lau were expected to take all this week, starting today.

Opening arguments should begin next week and the trial should take a couple of weeks, Donohoe said.

Lawyers for Frier, a former defensive tackle, last week filed a claim against the city of Kirkland and a lawsuit against Smith, seeking damages for the accident.

Prosecutors said Smith consumed at least five beers and 6-1/2 ounces of scotch in three hours before the accident.

Frier’s lawyers said Smith tried to avoid a median island that had no reflective signs and was poorly lit, causing the car to hit the pole.