NATCHEZ — Former Adams County jailer Victor Smith was found not guilty Wednesday of conspiring with inmates to commit aggravated assault against another inmate.

The verdict went in Smith’s favor on both charges — aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. Both charges stemmed from a March 17, 2016, incident when Smith had allegedly worked with two inmates — Jerome Harris and Kelcey Watson — to plan an assault on Joseph Sturdivant.

Sturdivant was reportedly found dead hanging in his cell later that day, though none of the charges from this case were related to his death.

On the second day of his trial, Smith took the stand Wednesday as the defense’s only witness.

After surveillance footage of the alleged crime played a large role throughout the first day of the trial, the jury once again witnessed the footage Wednesday, but this time with Smith giving his account of the events.

One of the state’s most crucial elements of proving conspiracy is when Harris appears to give a double thumbs up gesture to a figure outside their cell door. Prior to Wednesday, no one had conclusively determined who that figure was at the door.

Attempting transparency, Smith admitted it was himself at the door and that Harris’ gesture was directed toward Smith, adding that Smith himself gave the same gesture in return.

Smith, however, said the thumbs up was simply his way of asking if everything was OK and had nothing to do with a conspiracy.

Smith testified that Harris had asthma and had suffered asthma attacks in the jail before. After the incident, Smith said he returned to the cell block trying not only to figure out how Harris had entered Sturdivant’s cell, but also to see if Harris was OK.

Based on Smith’s testimony, the thumbs up was simply Harris telling Smith that “everything’s good.”

Smith also addressed why the cellblock door and “pin box” or “lockbox” that contains controls to lock and unlock individual cell doors was left open, which allowed Watson to open Sturdivant’s cell and Harris to enter the cell.

The incident occurred during feeding time, and Smith had entered the cellblock along with jail “trustys” to distribute food trays (testimony from law enforcement officers previously stated this is against protocol, as two jailers typically are present to distribute trays).

Smith testified he realized one tray was missing, and left to go help retrieve the last tray. At that time, the cell door and pin box were left open with no jailers in the area, based on Smith’s and others’ testimony.

The defense argued Smith simply made a mistake by leaving the door and box open. Smith, who had 14 years of experience as a corrections officer, told the court he made an error in judgment.

“I just heard the tray was missing, and I just went to get it without even thinking,” Smith said. “I’m very embarrassed by it.”

In the state’s closing argument, District Attorney Ronnie Harper and Assistant DA Tim Cotton asserted that a blunder by such an experienced officer was unlikely.

Conversely, the defense argued Smith had no motive to commit the crime. Defense attorneys Carmen Brooks Drake and Deborah McDonald said Smith, a father of four children, had no connection with the inmates allegedly involved in the assault and no compelling reason to conspire with them.

The defense said nothing from the trial, including the video evidence, proved conclusively that any assault even took place.

Smith said when he looked into the cell, Harris was in the cell with Sturdivant, but the two did not appear to be in an altercation. The defense argued that no one but Smith had actually seen the two inmates in the same cell and nobody witnessed an altercation between the two.

Because no evidence of an actual altercation was brought to light, the state also relied on testimony related to injuries sustained by Sturdivant.

Dr. Mark LeVaughn testified that when he examined Sturdivant’s body, his injuries appeared to indicate Sturdivant was choked.

Some time before the trial, LeVaughn had reportedly indicated some of the injuries Sturdivant suffered were separate from those sustained from the apparent hanging. Attorneys could not, however, question LeVaughn about this matter in court. The court decided to shield the jury from any information of Sturdivant’s death in order to avoid potential prejudice.

Based on LeVaughn’s testimony, the state argued the injuries sustained could have led to serious bodily injury or death, both stipulations for charging aggravated assault.

Conversely, the defense noted the origin of Sturdivant’s injuries were inconclusive. In addition to the alleged incident involving Sturdivant and Harris on March 17, 2016, Sturdivant had been in a fight with another inmate from earlier that day, as stated by multiple witnesses.

Drucilla Rounds, who was also a jailer at the time, testified that incident resulted in Sturdivant and the inmate exchanging blows, grabbing each other and pulling each other’s shirts by the collar.

The defense argued that these complications, in conjunction with a lack of video evidence, left no evidence of any sort of assault or conspired assault involving Smith.

The jury deliberated for approximately 47 minutes before rendering its not guilty verdict.

After the jury exited the courtroom for a final time, Judge Forrest A. Johnson addressed Smith.

“A finding of not guilty is not the same as actual innocence … There were some very disturbing things I saw from that video,” Johnson said.

Following the verdict, Smith broke down in tears, and he embraced his mother and fiancé before leaving the courtroom.