Man acquitted in school molestation case

A man accused of molesting four girls at a San Gabriel elementary school was cleared of three of the accusations Thurssday. In the fourth charge, the jury could not reach a verdict. City News Service reports below:

ALHAMBRA - An outside contractor who had been accused of inappropriately touching three female students at an elementary school in San Gabriel was acquitted today of three charges, but jurors deadlocked on a count involving a fourth girl.
The Alhambra Superior Court jury deliberated just over a day before acquitting Daniel Roy Smith, 43, of Fullerton, of two felony counts of lewd act on a child and a misdemeanor
child annoying charge.
The panel deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquittal on a third lewd act charge, according to defense
attorney Leonard Levine.
"We're hopeful that the remaining count will be dismissed," Smith's attorney said.
The prosecution is expected to announce at the next hearing Feb. 13 whether it wants to retry Smith on the charge, which involves a girl who was 7 at the time.
"We'll look at the decision on whether to retry him," Deputy District Attorney Steven Ipson said this afternoon.
The other charges on which Smith was acquitted involved another 7-year- old girl, a 10-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl, according to Ipson.
Smith was an outside contractor who was hired in connection with an astronomy presentation at Washington Elementary School.
"Our simple argument was that he didn't commit any acts of molestation," Levine said.
Smith had been jailed on $600,000 bail, but his bail was reduced to $75,000 following the jury's verdict, according to his attorney.