Warrant issued for missing Miami Beach man slated to testify against NFL star Aldon Smith

An arrest warrant was issued Friday for a Miami Beach pro football player who is supposed to testify against troubled Oakland Raiders pass rusher Aldon Smith.

Nick Moody was asked to appear in a Miami courtroom Friday to assure a judge that he would travel to California to take the stand in Smith’s trial. The NFL star faces charges of drunk-driving and leaving the scene of a car crash.

But Moody, a Miami Beach resident and former Florida State linebacker, has vanished, ignoring e-mails, text messages and calls from prosecutors on both coasts.

“I’m stunned that Mr. Moody defied the court’s direct order to appear today,” Miami-Dade prosecutor Christine Zahralban told the judge on Friday.

Moody played with Smith in San Francisco. The two were together the day Smith was arrested in August on charges of driving drunk and hitting several cars in Santa Clara, CA., according to court documents.

Smith’s trial is supposed to start on May 2. Miami-Dade prosecutors, acting on behalf of counterparts in Santa Clara, had asked the judge earlier this month to order Moody to report to California to take the witness stand.

If Moody is arrested in Miami-Dade, prosecutors will likely ask that he be held in jail until California authorities can transport him across the country. He could also be held in contempt of court and sentenced to jail time.

Smith, 26, was part of San Francisco’s vaunted defenses, but he was plagued by off-the-field troubles, which included a DUI arrest on Miami Beach. The team cut him loose after his August arrest.

He later signed with the cross-town Raiders, but cannot play again until November when he finishes a one-year league suspension.

Moody, 26, played at Florida State and was a reserve linebacker after being drafted by the 49ers in the sixth round in 2013. He was cut weeks after Smith’s arrest.

He played briefly with the Seattle Seahawks in 2015 before tearing his ACL, and is now a free agent.

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Warrant issued for missing Miami Beach man slated to testify against NFL star Aldon Smith."