Women want justice at FCI Dublin sex abuse retrial of officer 'Dirty Dick'

OAKLAND, Calif. - A retrial of a former FCI Dublin correctional officer whose nickname was "Dirty Dick" is set to begin in an Oakland federal courtroom on Tuesday, less than five months after a jury deadlocked on whether he was guilty of 14 counts of sexual abuse. 

And several women who were incarcerated there during his tenure want to see that justice is served the second time around. In interviews, they recounted the trauma of testifying during his first trial in the spring, and some reported the terrible treatment of being transferred to speak up on the witness stand. 

"I'm kind of like, ‘here we go again,’" said Sabrina Taylor, who was sentenced to two years at FCI Dublin in 2023. "I'm concerned how witnesses are treated during this process." 

Second trial for FCI Dublin officer

Opening statements in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers are scheduled to be heard in the second trial against Darrell "Dirty Dick" Smith – the only one of 10 former FCI Dublin officers not to have been found guilty of sex crimes. 

Nine others, including the former warden, have all either pleaded guilty, or been found guilty by juries, to various sex crimes between 2019 and 2021 at the women's prison, which was closed in April 2024 and now sits vacant. This is the most Bureau of Prisons officers charged with sex crimes from any one prison in the United States. 

During the first trial in March, Smith maintained his innocence, and his defense team argued that the women who testified against him were felons, motivated to lie, as many of them also won a portion of a $116-million settlement with the Bureau of Prisons, and there was no physical evidence to support their allegations.

Smith, who often wore a cowboy hat and boots to work instead of a standard prison uniform, worked as a correctional counselor at FCI Dublin from 2015 to 2021, when he was demoted. 

Smith has been out of custody since charges were filed against him in 2023, and has been living in Florida. He did not take the stand during his first trial. 

Hoping for justice 2nd time around

In interviews, several women who were formerly incarcerated at FCI Dublin – some of whom were sexually abused by Smith and other officers – as well as their attorneys, hope that this new trial will yield different results.

"I hope justice is served," said attorney Kara Janssen, who is representing a woman Smith is charged with assaulting. "I'm glad the government is retrying the case.  I'd be surprised to see any huge changes. It seems like their evidence is strong. Nobody wants to do this again."

Aja Jasmin, who was assaulted by another now-convicted correctional officer, Jeffrey Wilson, hopes the jury takes what the women testify to at face value. 

During the last trial, some jurors told the East Bay Times that they didn't believe the witnesses' accounts because they were awarded about $1 million apiece as part of a historic settlement against the BOP. 

"Anybody who's received a damages award, that's done and over with," Jasmin said. "It definitely would have been beneficial if the government had come forth straight out of the gate advising that yes, there was a settlement and show the timing of it. If they addressed that firsthand, then it doesn't appear as if they're trying to hide it." 

Dozens of witnesses

According to the prosecutors' list, there are 33 witnesses that could be called to the stand, including four women who are expected to testify about how Smith allegedly locked one of them in a hot water room until she flashed him her breasts before he let her out, fingered another woman in a shower, and, in another case, entered a woman's cell before pinning her against the wall and digitally penetrating her anus. 

Prosecutors laid out their evidence in court documents ahead of the retrial. 

14 counts of sex abuse

There are at least a couple of small changes to Smith's retrial.

Asst. U.S. attorneys Andrew Paulson and Sailaja Paidipaty, who did not explain their decision, charged Smith this time with 14 counts of sexual abuse of a ward, abusive sexual contact and aggravated sexual abuse, not 15, as he was formerly charged with. 

And instead of five women being listed as formal victims of his, there are only four now. A woman whose initials are L.B. is no longer part of the upcoming case. 

Witness won't testify again 

Another small change is that a woman KTVU is identifying only as "A." will not be testifying, even though she did the first time to corroborate the story of an alleged Smith victim. 

A. is now in a halfway house, but when she testified during Smith's first trial, she spent two days in transit from an Oklahoma detention facility to Martinez Detention Center, where she said she wasn't allowed to shower and only ate crackers and bologna sandwiches. 

She said she wasn't given her withdrawal medication during the entire time she traveled in shackles, and then she said she missed her actual prison release date because of bureaucratic bungles with the marshals and U.S. Attorney's Office. 

A. said she had to stay in custody for two months longer than she was supposed to until the BOP could finally straighten out the situation, with no help from the prosecutors who subpoenaed her to the stand. 

Instead of being released in April, she said, she was finally let out of prison in June, even though she was promised that testifying against Smith wouldn't mess up her release date. 

And since she testified against a prison officer, she said she is still "dealing with a lot of retaliation" at the halfway house.

"I made such a big deal out of how terrible my last experience was, that they decided not to deal with it again," A. said. "I told them I really didn't want to be part of it."