Staff Sgt. Steven Smiley was found not guilty of negligent homicide and four other counts in the death of 19-year-old Marine recruit Dalton Beals in 2021, according to The Hilton Head Island Packet.
In addition to the negligent homicide charge, an eight-person military jury found Smiley not guilty of dereliction of duty resulting in death, obstruction of justice, cruelty, oppression or maltreatment of subordinates, and dereliction in the performances of his duties after two hours of deliberations on Friday.
The jury did find Smiley guilty of one charge of violating a general order that forbids drill instructors from calling recruits names. Smiley called recruits "war pigs," "pig" and "sweet bacon" during training.
Smiley kept his head down and leaned forward, with his hands on the table, as the verdict was read. His wife, who was seated behind him, reportedly wept.
As he read a statement to the court, and to the Beals family, Smiley became emotional and paused.
"I'm sorry what happened to your son," he said. He added that, if a similar incident happened to his family, "I wouldn't know what to do."
Stacie Beveridge Beals, the recruit's mother, told the Packet she was not ready to comment immediately after the verdict.
Beals died on June 4, 2021, during a grueling 54-hour final challenge called the Crucible. The event tests physical stamina, mental toughness and the ability to critically think while suffering hunger, sleep deprivation, and exhaustion.
Medical experts testifying for the prosecution said Smiley pushed the recruits too hard and that heat stroke contributed to Beals' death. Medical witnesses for the defense, however, argued that the recruit had an existing heart condition that contributed.
During closing arguments, Colby Vokey, one of Smiley's attorneys, told the jury to send the message that "we expect drill instructors to train Marines to do the right things but we won't make one a scapegoat because of a tragic event."
"If the conditions of the Crucible are hot or difficult, that doesn't fall on Staff Sgt. Smiley," Vokey said, according to the Packet.
Lt. Col. Ian Germain, part of the prosecution in the case, contended that Smiley was out to "break" the recruits under his watch and pushed them too far in hot conditions by ordering extra exercises.
The drill instructor also failed to recognize clear signs of heat exhaustion in Beals and ignored a recruit's warning that Beals was missing, with Smiley's negligence leading to his death, Germain argued.
"Dalton Beals was entrusted to Steven Smiley who treated him like he was going to break him, not make him, and that's why we are here," Germain said, according to the Packet.
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