Former pro football player Anthony Wayne Smith ordered to stand trial in murder case
Killing Maurilio Ponce
LANCASTER, Calif.—Former Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith and two other men were ordered today to stand trial for the October 2008 slaying of a man in Lancaster.
Superior Court Judge Carol Koppel found sufficient evidence to require Smith, 43, of Fontana, Charles Eric Honest, 41, of Los Angeles, and Dewann Wesley White, 33, of Bloomington, to proceed to trial in the Oct. 7, 2008, killing of Maurilio Ponce.
The 31-year-old victim was beaten and shot several times before his body was dumped near the Antelope Valley poppy fields, about 11 miles west of Lancaster.
Smith, Honest and White—who were charged on Feb. 16 and arrested in early March—are due back in Lancaster Superior Court on June 22 for arraignment.
Smith was the top pick of the Raiders in 1990 out of the University of Arizona, and played professional football with the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders between 1991 and 1997.
He was living in Marina del Rey when Ponce was killed, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Smith had previously been charged with arson in the February 2003 firebombing of Simply Sofas in Santa Monica involving an alleged dispute over a few hundred dollars and a statue left at the store on consignment. But a judge dismissed the case against him in December 2004 after two juries deadlocked—the second 11-1 in favor of acquittal.
Smith subsequently sued a Santa Monica police sergeant, contending that he was falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted. A panel from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Smith's claim in a 2-1 ruling last October.
LANCASTER, Calif.—A 34-year-old man—charged along with two other people, including former Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith, in an October 2008 killing—was convicted today of first-degree murder.
The Lancaster Superior Court jury deliberated about two days before returning its verdict against Dewann Wesley White, who is facing 25 years to life in state prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Taly Peretz.
Trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 28 for Anthony Wayne Smith, 44, a former Raiders defensive end, charged with the October 2008 murder of a man in Lancaster. Also charged are Charles Eric Honest, 42, and Dewann Wesley White, 34.
Authorities say 31-year-old Maurilio Ponce was beaten and shot several times and his body was dumped in a poppy field about 11 miles west of Lancaster.
The three men were charged with one count of murder each in the killing of Ponce.
LANCASTER, Calif.—Former Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith and one of two other men charged in the October 2008 slaying of a man in Lancaster made initial court appearances this afternoon on a murder charge.
Arraignment was rescheduled to March 17 for Smith, 43, of Fontana, who is accused in the Oct. 7, 2008, slaying of Maurillio Ponce.
Anthony Wayne Smith, the former defensive end for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders who was already awaiting retrial for the 2008 murder of Maurilio Ponce, is back in the spotlight after being charged with three additional murders. Wednesday he entered a plea of not guilty on all charges.
LANCASTER, Calif.—Former Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith pleaded not guilty today to murder charges stemming from four killings nearly a decade apart.
The 45-year-old ex-pro football player is charged with murder and kidnapping to commit another crime—robbery—in the Nov. 10, 1999, slayings of Kevin and Ricky Nettles; the June 25, 2001, killing of Dennis Henderson; and the Oct. 7, 2008, killing of Maurilio Ponce.
