Reminded me of the Keaton Smiley incident, involving another " Ice Cube Assault "...
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- University of Iowa football player Keaton Smiley testified Monday he was merely defending himself against an irate former girlfriend when he allegedly assaulted her at an Iowa City tavern in May 1986.
Smiley, 20, a defensive back from Duncanville, Texas, was on trial in Johnson County District Court on charges he struck Iowa student Jennifer Lee in the nose, causing a nasal fracture.
The misdemeanor assault trial ended late Monday afternoon. District Court Judge Van Zimmer said he would deliver a verdict soon.
Smiley, who sat out the season following the allegation and a similar assault charge involving an Iowa volleyball player, told the court Lee and a friend had been verbally assaulting him at the Fieldhouse Bar. He said both women had been throwing ice cubes at him when he went to talk to Lee.
Lee, who admitted she dated Smiley that fall, said Smiley hit her.
'I got struck head on with a closed fist,' Lee testified. 'I have never been hit that hard in my life. ... There was blood running out of my nose.'
Smiley countered, saying Lee and Iowa junior Tracy Hansen had been harassing him. He said he confronted Lee and turned her around by her shoulder, but when he saw she was holding a glass, he tried to knock it out of her hand and accidentally knocked her backward.
'I didn't intend to hurt her,' Smiley said. 'My sole purpose was to get the glass away from me. I didn't know I had hit her. My eyes were on the glass.'
Before the proceedings, an Iowa City man was arrested after he allegedly threatened Smiley. The man, identified as Richard Terrell, 37, reportedly told Smiley he had a gun and would shoot him if he wasn't convicted.
Law officers searched Terrell and found no gun. He was charged with simple assault.
