Courtney Smith denies telling police she dropped charges against Zach under pressure from OSU lawyer

Jason Owens
·Staff writer
Courtney Smith denied part of a police report detailed in the Columbus Dispatch that says she dropped charges against Zach Smith under pressure from OSU. (AP)
Courtney Smith denied part of a police report detailed in the Columbus Dispatch that says she dropped charges against Zach Smith under pressure from OSU. (AP)

On Wednesday, The Columbus Dispatch published details from a Powell, Ohio police report sent anonymously to its offices over a 2015 incident at Courtney Smith’s home.

According to the report, Smith outlined to police a history of abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, former Ohio State assistant football coach Zach Smith, that included choking, physical abuse and death threats.

The report also states that Courtney told police that an Ohio State lawyer had visited her home and pressured her to drop charges against Zach for a previous alleged incident “because it would embarrass OSU if she proceeded with the prosecution.”

Courtney Smith says she didn’t drop charges under OSU pressure

Courtney later denied the latter part of the report about the OSU lawyer in a statement given to college football reporter Brett McMurphy.

McMurphy is the reporter who broke open the scandal that has engulfed OSU and head football coach Urban Meyer with his report documenting that Meyer was likely aware of Zach’s alleged serial abuse of Courtney while Zach was under OSU’s employ.

McMurphy did not address the rest of the Dispatch report or if Courtney responded to it.

Police acknowledge report obtained by Dispatch

The Dispatch reported that Powell Police Chief Gary Vest did not deny the contents of the report when the publication made him aware it possessed it.

An OSU spokesman told The Dispatch that it was unaware of Courtney’s allegation about the lawyer and said that the school would investigate it.

Ugly allegations from Courtney Smith detailed in report

In addition to telling police that Zach had choked her, Courtney said that he “cut her hand open with a tin can causing significant bleeding” in a 2014 incident and “threw her into a wooden stair causing significant bruising and swelling” in 2015, according to the report.

Those are a few of the several incidents Courtney reportedly told police about, some of which she alleges happened in front of their children and often stemmed from his anger over her suspicion that he was involved in extra-marital affairs.

The Dispatch reports that this police report is part of a larger investigation file that they did not have access to because the city refuses to release it.

The Dispatch reports that Vest told the publication that police had handed over the investigation file to Delaware County prosecutors for felony charges that were never filed.

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