A Cowlitz County jury acquitted Thursday evening a Castle Rock man of second-degree assault stemming from a road rage incident, although he was convicted of a lesser charge.
Butch Dwight Smith, 51, was accused of beating up a 65-year-old Castle Rock man in 2023 after following him off an Interstate offramp and to a gas station.
Smith was found guilty of fourth-degree assault. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Anthony Carlow requested a six-month sentence in the Cowlitz County Jail and that Smith pay restitution.
However, Smith’s attorney Tim Rusk of Tim Rusk Attorneys, based in Tacoma, asked that the sentencing hearing be postponed to a later date.
After the ruling in the courtroom, several of Smith’s supporters sobbed and shared a group hug. While exiting, Smith told The Daily News that he was very pleased with the ruling, especially since he is “not going to prison.”
The incident occurred on May 24, 2023, at the Shell gas station in Castle Rock, 1178 Mt. St. Helens Way, across the street from Papa Pete’s Pizza.
Closing statements
During opening statements, Carlow had told the jury that victim Willard A. Dyrland Jr. was driving north on Interstate 5 toward Castle Rock when he was cut off by a white Toyota truck driven by Smith.
The defendant later brake-checked him near the exit ramp, forcing Dyrland to slam on his brakes to avoid a rear-end collision, Carlow said. Smith then followed Dyrland to the Shell station, where the altercation occurred.
During closing arguments, Carlow said Dyrland suffered fractured bones in his face and a dent in his cheek and continues to experience numbness two years after the incident. He held up images of Dyrland’s face for the jury to see.
Carlow urged jurors to consider the witness testimony, especially because there was no footage from the gas station’s surveillance cameras.
One of the witnesses testified to seeing Smith chasing the victim in their respected vehicles in a hostile fashion.
Another witness, an employee at the gas station, saw Smith standing over Dyrland with a fist raised in the doorway of Dyrland’s vehicle.
Smith’s attorney put on the stand the defendant’s father, who testified he was in the vehicle with Smith at the time of the incident. He essentially gave the same story that Smith did on the stand.
But in closing arguments Carlow disputed Smith’s father’s testimony that he was inside his son’s vehicle during the altercation, as witnesses stated that Smith appeared to be alone.
Carlow also reviewed Smith’s criminal history with the jury.
The defense’s version
Smith, who took the stand, testified that before having any interaction with the victim on the highway, he drove to Portland to pick up his father, who was suffering from a leg injury.
According to Smith, Dyrland’s vehicle cut him off and swerved into his lane several times. After exiting the highway, there was an exchange of middle fingers, and he said Dyrland cursed at him.
At the Shell gas station, following a verbal exchange, Smith stated that Dyrland spit in his face, which landed either in his mouth or around it, prompting a physical altercation that started with Smith slapping Dyrland.
He said Dyrland threw a punch that pushed him backward, and Smith said he responded with a punch of his own, knocking Dyrland to the ground.
Dyrland got back up to re-engage with Smith, he testified, so he knocked him down a second time.
Rusk, Smith’s attorney, told the jury that the employee at the gas station didn’t witness the total confrontation but did hear Smith asking Dyrland to stop attacking him.
He labeled his client’s actions as self-defense.
