Athlete Convicted in Students’ Deaths

Former Boston Celtics player Charles Smith was convicted Thursday of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crime in the hit-and-run deaths of two Boston University students, one of whom was a 21-year-old Placentia woman.

Smith was acquitted in Boston of the more serious charge of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison by Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Robert M. Banks and will be eligible for parole after he has served 2 1/2 years.

Smith, 24, who was an All-American guard at Georgetown University, had been charged in the deaths of An Trinh of Placentia and Michelle Dartley, 20, of Ridgewood, N.J. They were struck on a busy thoroughfare near the university the night of March 22.

Trinh’s parents, Thang and Huan Trinh, were in Boston on Thursday attending Smith’s trial.

Their daughter was a 1988 graduate of El Dorado High School in Placentia, where she had been both an honors student and prom queen. She attended Cal State Fullerton briefly before transferring to Boston University, where she was majoring in psychology. She was also vice president of BU’s Vietnamese Students Assn.

She was described by friends and teachers as a woman of boundless energy and a voracious mind, who wanted to help others.

Her brother, Quan Trinh, 26, said he talked to his parents Thursday night.

“The law, in my opinion, is very merciful as it is,” he said, calling Smith’s sentence “half-justice.”

“He killed two girls, and now he’s serving time for one, and that’s not altogether right,” he said.

Despite the sentence, Trinh said, his parents are relieved that the trial is over. “It’s some kind of finish so that they can try to go on with their lives,” he said.

Cabdriver Tochukwu Achebe testified that after the incident he followed Smith’s van through Cambridge and Boston, calling in its whereabouts on his radio.

Police arrested Smith about a mile from the scene. He was charged with two counts each of manslaughter, vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident. He had remained free on $100,000 bond.

In closing arguments Tuesday, Assistant Dist. Atty. Thomas Mundy called Smith’s flight after hitting the two students “obscene and disgusting.”

But Smith’s attorney, Dennis Kelly, accused prosecution witnesses of exaggerating or fabricating evidence against Smith. He described the incident as a tragic accident and appealed to jurors not to be influenced by details of the extensive injuries suffered by the students.

A man riding in the van with Smith testified that the two had at least two beers before the accident.

Benjamin Gillery, Smith’s college roommate, also said Smith paused briefly after the accident, then sped away.

Gillery said Smith was driving 30 or 40 m.p.h. on the city streets when the accident occurred. But Gillery said he was switching the radio and did not see the van strike the students.

A Boston University police officer said under cross-examination that the road was wet the night of the accident.

Georgetown Coach John Thompson and Boston Celtics executive Dave Gavitt testified as character witnesses for Smith. They described him as a quiet, responsible young man who became team captain of the Hoyas and played on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team.

Smith’s second 10-day contract with the Celtics expired a few days after the accident, and the team chose not to sign him to a full contract.

Since then, he has been playing for the Albany, Ga., Sharp Shooters of the Global Basketball League.

Times wire services contributed to this report.