Elisha Anderson

Detroit Free Press

A judge on Monday sentenced embattled state Sen. Virgil Smith to 10 months in jail with no early release but did not require him to resign from his job as a legislator, which was part of a sentencing agreement in the case against him.

"It would be illegal for me to impose as a condition of sentence that he resign from office and that he not hold public office during the pendency of his probation,” Wayne County Circuit Judge Lawrence Talon said during the hearing.

The decision means prosecutors could now pull the agreement they reached with the defense because it required Smith to resign.

As part of the plea, Smith, 36, D-Detroit, pleaded guilty to a felony count of malicious destruction of personal property of $20,000 or more last month and admitted shooting his ex-wife's 2015 Mercedes-Benz on May 10, 2015.

Talon said Smith could be expelled, voted out of office or resign but requiring him to step down “offends the state constitution.”

"You do not have to resign from the Senate," he told Smith, explaining his ruling. "I'm taking that off the plea agreement."

It’s not yet known if Smith will voluntarily resign from office, though some say they expect that to happen.

“The plea is legal, and the defendant agreed to it,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement released after the two-hour hearing in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice. “If all the conditions are not accepted by the court, we will withdraw our plea. We are certain that we stand on solid legal ground.”

Smith told investigators the shots were fired after his ex-wife, Anistia Thomas, pushed her way into his house on Wexford and attempted to attack the woman in his bed.

Thomas previously testified Smith punched her in the face and rammed her head into the floor and wall when she was inside his home. She gave a statement in the courtroom Monday, saying Smith has lied to save face and is "still blaming me."

"I refuse to take on blame due to his extreme faults and lack of accountability," Thomas said, adding that her injuries included a busted lip, more than 18 bruises and multiple cuts and abrasions, a swollen jaw and sprained neck.

Smith declined to address the court when given the opportunity.

“When you fire a gun, you never know where the bullets are going to end up,” Talon said. “They present a danger to everyone else in the community, so it is fortunate that nobody was injured as a result of Mr. Smith firing the gun.”

As part of the agreement reached in the case, three charges: felonious assault, possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, which carries a mandatory two years prison sentence, and a misdemeanor count of domestic violence, are to be dismissed.

Smith also must serve five years of probation, stay away from alcohol, comply with mental health treatment and not have contact with Thomas.

Smith has a medical marijuana card and drug testing was not ordered Monday.

Godfrey Dillard, one of Smith's attorneys, argued that Smith is being held accountable and said his career has been destroyed.

"This is not a pass for Mr. Smith,” he said. “This is a very serious wake-up call.”

Smith sat quietly throughout the hearing, hands clasped in his lap — sometimes looking down, sometimes looking at the judge. His father, Wayne County Circuit Judge Virgil Smith, was also in the courtroom.

A joint sentencing memorandum was filed by the prosecution and defense attorneys on Feb. 29. The court document said Smith suffers from bipolar depressive hypomanic disorder, was in a rollover accident in 2014 that caused a traumatic brain injury and was recently discharged from Henry Ford Maplegrove Center, where he was treated for alcohol dependency.

Smith’s medical history is “not offered to excuse his criminal act but rather as an explanation of various factors that contributed to this behavior,” the document said.

After charges were filed against Smith, he lost his staff and was stripped of his committee assignments and his post as a minority whip in the Senate.

“Sen. Smith has talked about a voluntary resignation, and that’s our expectation. Our assumption is that this could delay it by a couple of weeks,” said Amber McCann, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive. “The judge pointing out that he can’t compel Sen. Smith to resign doesn’t really change anything.”

Smith, in discussion with leadership in the Senate, said a voluntary resignation was based on the fact that he wouldn’t be able to serve his constituents for a significant period of time while he is in jail, McCann.

If Smith decides not to resign, the Senate could go through the process to expel him, “and we would just end up with the same result,” McCann said.

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel released a statement Monday and called Smith’s behavior “appalling” and said people in his district “deserve better.”

“Democratic leadership must ask him to do the right thing for his constituents and step down,” the statement said. “They deserve effective representation in Lansing, and it is clear Smith can no longer fulfill that duty.”

Smith is due back in court March 28 so attorneys can address additional matters in the case.

Contact Elisha Anderson: 313-222-5144, eanderson@freepress.com or on Twitter @elishaanderson. Staff writer Kathleen Gray contributed to this report.