A jury acquitted former Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels of all charges Thursday night after a three-day trial in Green Cove Springs.
Prosecutors claimed that while sheriff in 2019, Daniels ordered deputies to arrest his mistress: Cierra Smith, for stalking him. He was charged with lying to law enforcement about the circumstances surrounding Smith’s arrest and with destroying evidence for deleting his Google account and attempting to have his agency phone wiped clean of all files.
In closing arguments, defense attorney Matthew Kachergus said Daniels deleted the Google account and tried to have his phone wiped, not to hide evidence from an FDLE investigation but to conceal the details of his affair with Smith from his wife.
More on this story later from the Telegraph-Times-Monitor.
