Second soldier acquitted in the downtown Columbus beating of a former soldier and woman

After three hours of deliberating, a general court-martial panel at Fort Benning acquitted Pvt. Nathan J. Smajda of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily injury in the downtown Columbus beating of a former soldier and a woman.

Assigned to the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team at Fort Benning, Smajda is the second soldier acquitted of charges filed by the military after Eric Gutliph, a former soldier, and his friend Kristy Gibson were beaten about 2:30 a.m. April 9 at 11th Street and First Avenue. Pvt. Dillon Fisher was acquitted in a general court-martial Jan. 4. Smajda, Fisher, and three other soldiers still face charges of aggravated battery, a felony, in the Columbus court.

Smajda, 24, stood expressionless about 5:15 p.m. when Maj. Samuel Rogers, the ranking officer on the panel of seven men and one woman, announced the not guilty verdict.

Kyle Fischer, the soldier’s attorney, expressed relief.

“I think the panel made the right call,” Fischer said after the verdict. “It’s pretty clear they deliberated quite a while and they were very attentive. We always said a court-martial is the best place to be if you’re innocent and the worst place to be if you are guilty. I’m very happy Nathan Smajda has been vindicated.”

The soldier said he’s ready to move on with his life after living with the court-martial for nine months.

“I’m glad justice was served and I was proven not guilty,” he said. “I’ve known this for nine months and it was really good to tell my story, finally. I just plan to move on with my life. I’m getting out of the military.”

Gutliph, 22, sustained a broken nose, cuts, swollen right eye and bleeding on the brain after the beating. He said little after the verdict. “I’m getting there,” he said. “Just keep my head up.”

Gibson testified during the two-day hearing that she thought Gutliph was going to be killed. She was struck in the face by Smajda while he was on top of Gutliph, who was slammed to the ground and punched in the face.

Gibson was upset to hear another not guilty verdict.

“Justice was not served,” she said. “I was there and I saw the attack. They got out of the truck and attacked us. They nearly killed my friend. In the last court-martial, it was a not guilty verdict and today was a not guilty verdict and justice was not served. Both boards did not serve justice in my opinion.”

Gibson, 26, said she still doesn’t know why the attack happened.

“I have no idea why,” she said. “They will have to answer for what they did on judgment day. We all try to do the right thing. At least I was there that night to try to save Eric’s life.”

Fisher, the soldier cleared in an earlier court-martial, said the verdict was all they needed. “Now, the Columbus people can know what happened,” he said.

Fischer was concerned about the verdict after the panel returned to the courtroom after two hours of deliberating. Rogers asked judge Col. Tara Osborn what was needed for a conviction. She told them the panel needed six votes of eight members for a guilty verdict but fewer than six would be not guilty.