Chattanooga police officer’s wife recants charge against husband

Chattanooga Police Officer Brian Smith

The wife of a Chattanooga Police Department officer admitted to prosecutors that she lied when she told officers that her husband had choked her during an argument in May.

Hamilton County General Sessions Court Judge Christie Mahn Sell dropped a domestic assault charge against 44-year-old Officer Brian Smith at the request of prosecutor Rodney Strong. His wife, Ginny Smith, 39, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to domestic vandalism related to the same incident and received diversion.

Brian Smith had faced the domestic assault charge in connection with a May 23 incident at the couple’s home at 5404 Thornhill Lane.

Court testimony by responding police officers in a previous hearing showed the couple had argued days before Brian Smith called police on May 23. During the interview, he admitted that after Ginny Smith had destroyed some of his personal property following an argument, he threatened her. But Brian Smith always maintained he never struck his wife.