Then-Lance Cpl. Steven T. Smiley attends a wrestling practice session at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune on May 9, 2011. Smiley, now a staff sergeant, is on trial for accusations related to the June 4, 2021 death of 19-year-old recruit Dalton Beals. (Cory D. Polom/U.S. Marine Corps)
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (Tribune News Service) — There was an unscheduled delay in the negligent homicide trial of a Marine drill instructor at U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Port Royal Thursday: The accused wasn't feeling well.
Staff Sgt. Steven Smiley is on trial for accusations related to the June 4, 2021 death of 19-year-old recruit Dalton Beals.
On Thursday morning, the third day of the trial, proceedings commenced with the prosecution calling Marines who trained with Beals. Also scheduled was the defense doing their cross examination of the witnesses.
Following a break in morning witness testimony, Colby Vokey, one of Smiley's attorneys, told Judge Col. Adam J. Workman that Smiley was not feeling well and had thrown up four times. "He's looking pretty peaked," Vokey said.
No additional details about Smiley's condition were offered.
Judge Workman excused the jurors for the day and said the trial would resume at 9 a.m. Friday.
The prosecution maintains Smiley pushed the recruits too hard, considering how hot it was, and failed to monitor how the heat was affecting Beals. An autopsy showed Beals died from hyperthermia in the line of duty, not due to any misconduct of his own.
The defense team for Smiley, who has pleaded not guilty, has pointed to a second autopsy in maintaining that Beals had a heart condition that caused his death.
Dalton Beals died June 4, 2021, during the Crucible, a rite-of-passage held during week 10 of recruit training at Parris Island, when recruits march 48 miles over 54 hours carrying up to 45 pounds of gear through 36 stations and problem-solving exercises. (U.S. Marine Corps)
Beals died during a three-day final training exercise recruits must complete before becoming Marines known as the Crucible.
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