Comparing the William Kennedy Smith Case and Duke Rape Hoax
MSNBC's Dan Abrams, a Duke graduate, initially said that the idea that some Duke lacrosse players had committed a gang rape was plausible to him. Since then, to his credit, he's followed the evidence and figured out that the rape charge was fabricated and no one raped the accuser, much less any of the Duke Three whom that accuser made her victims by falsely charging them with a horrendous crime.
MSNBC's Dan Abrams, a Duke graduate, initially said that the idea that some Duke lacrosse players had committed a gang rape was plausible to him. Since then, to his credit, he's followed the evidence and figured out that the rape charge was fabricated and no one raped the accuser, much less any of the Duke Three whom that accuser made her victims by falsely charging them with a horrendous crime.
William Kennedy Smith studied at Duke University. He's a white Yankee
from a wealthy family. The Duke Three also are white Yankees from wealthy families. Mr. Smith is the lucky one; the Duke Three are the unfortunate ones selected by their accuser from photos of the 46 white members of Duke's 2005-2006 men's lacrosse team. Mr. Smith was tried in the same year in which he allegedly committed rape, while the Duke Three can't get a speedy trial and must wait until next spring. Mr. Smith was acquitted, even though there was no dispute that he had sex with his accuser, while the Duke Three were wrongly indicted and DNA evidence shows that their accuser had sex with several men shortly before the party at which she claimed to have been gang raped and does not show that she had sex with any of them. Yet, despite a plethora of monumental problems with the prosecution's case, the case goes on (at least until a new appointed (and never elected) incumbent next year.
The indictments of the Duke Three at the behest of their accuser is a travesty of justice. A review of the William Kennedy Smith case makes it all the more obvious. In 1991, Mr. Smith was charged with rape and acquitted after a jury trial. The complainant, Patricia Bowman, was infinitely more credible that Crystal Gail Mangum, the ex-convict/stripper/"escort" accusing the Duke Three in what is increasingly recognized as the Duke Rape Hoax.
It was fifteen years ago. But a look back is timely. Because (1) Ms. Bowman passed TWO polygraph test and a voice-stress test before Mr. Smith was prosecuted; (2) NBC and The New York Times promptly disclosed Ms. Bowman's name; (3) three people came forward to alleged prior sexual assaults by Mr. Smith; and (4) the Florida court kept evidence of those alleged sexual assaults out of the case, thereby facilitating acquittal.
In the Duke case, has Ms. Mangum passed ONE polygraph test OR a voice stress test? (Each of the Duke Three reported passed a polygraph test.) If not, why would Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong treat Ms. Mangum's accusation as a sufficient basis for proceeding with a criminal prosecution[especially when she had contradicted herself repeatedly on whether she was raped and how many people raped her (pick one: none, three, five, twenty) and nothing in the history of any of the Duke Three supported the accusation that they have ever sexually assaulted anyone)? Hint: Mr. Nifong's only legal employment since he graduated from law school was with the Durham County District Attorney's Office and he soon would have lost his job if he lost the Democrat primary and, to win the primary (ordinarily tantamount to winning the election, but not this year, due to the perception of the Duke case as a political persecution instead of a proper prosecution), he desperately needed to win the black vote by a wide margin.
The basic facts of the William Kennedy Smith case are simple. During the evening of March 30, 1991, Mr. Smith was in a bar with his uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy (whose driving skill is suspect), and Senator Kennedy's son and Mr. Smith's Senator, (now) Representative Patrick Kennedy (another danger on the road). Mr. Smith met Ms. Bowman, then 29, and the younger Kennedy met another young lady. The two couples then went a nearby house owned by the Kennedy family and Mr. Smith and Ms. Bowman walked along the beach near the house. Ms. Bowman accused Mr. Kennedy of rape, and he insisted their sexual interaction was consensual.
NO one else has come forward to accuse any of the Duke Three with any sexual misconduct. In sharp contrast, in the Kennedy case, three women came forward to report that Mr. Kennedy had sexually assaulted them and
Larry Tye and Irene Sege wrote about it in the July 24, 1991 issue of The Boston Globe:
On first appearance, William Kennedy Smith is a disarmingly charming young man, but alone with a woman, he can become 'animal-like,' 'violent' and a 'sicko,' according to statements made public yesterday from three women who say Smith assaulted them in recent years....
EXCERPTS FROM THE STATEMENTS
The following are excerpts from the statements made by the three women who, according to prosecutors, were sexually attacked by William Kennedy Smith before the Palm Beach case. The boldface text is a Globe summary of the transcript.
FIRST STATEMENT
From a woman who says she was attacked in 1983 at the home of Smith's parents in New York City:
After a party, Smith offers to let the woman stay in the guest room of his parents' home, which is nearby. She says he directed her to the guest room.
'One moment he was standing in front of me, talking with me, saying good-night and the next minute he ... tackled me onto the bed ... that I was standing next to and was trying to kiss me, and had his body completely cover mine, and had me pinned on the bed, and from there ... he continued to try to kiss me and put his hands on me....
'I was resisting it every moment. I was not in any way relaxed. My ... entire body was focused on getting him off of me, which must have made it kind of difficult for him to continue. It was a constant struggle.' ...
Smith then apologizes, she says.
'For a moment I actually thought he means it, and it was just a mistake somehow and it'll be OK. But that was just for a brief moment because he immediately did the same thing again. Almost as if it was a repeat performance.' ...
The woman is asked if she recalled him saying anything at that point.
'Just to be quiet. To shut up. But that's the only thing I remember.
'I also remember being really scared and thinking this is really a messed-up situation, and this is really a nightmare and I want to get out of here.' ...
The next day she called Max Kennedy, Smith's cousin, who was then her boyfriend.
'I called Max the next day and I said your cousin Willie attacked me, I met your cousin Willie last night and he attacked me and he's a sicko and called him some names and, you know, expected some sympathy and some reaction, I don't know exactly what.' ...
The woman later broke up with Max Kennedy, but when she heard of the Palm Beach incident, she said they spoke by telephone.
'He said, ''it sounds like Willie really has a problem,'"and he apologized again to me.
'He did say that it ... it had been hard for him because, you know, people [slight pause] it was hard for his family at that particular moment because people were perceiving them as "you sick rapists," and that it was a ... it was a tough time for his family.'...
The woman said she had been reluctant to go to police at the time.
'I frankly thought that nobody would think it was too much of a big deal because I hadn't been actually raped and because I ... Max was minimizing it. I started to do the same.
'I also thought that nobody would believe me, being, you know, considering who ... who the people were involved.' ...
Why has she come forward now?
'Well, it's just been really on my mind and, it's got a lot to ... it's complicated, I ... it has to do with the fact that I didn't do anything at the time when I was assaulted and I ... that makes me feel kind of powerless and I wish that I could have done something and this is something that possibly will be an action that ... that will have some ... some impact on this case in Florida.
'I mean it's my obligation to support her by you know, doing what I can to ....'
SECOND STATEMENT
From a woman who says she was sexually attacked by Smith in 1988 at his Washington apartment:
'I went over to get my purse. He handed me the drink that we had been drinking. I put it back down. We were on the back side of the couch. At that point without any warning he grabbed me by my wrists ... threw me over the couch, and I landed on the floor on my back pinned to the floor by the wrist with him on top of me.
'I felt like if I struggled he probably wouldn't have let me up ... whereas if I treated him like a normal person that didn't have any ... any violent tendencies that he might indeed act like a normal person and let me up.
'I was frightened. I thought that if I didn't somehow talk this fellow out of it that I was going to be raped.' ...
She did not report the incident to police.
'Because I know how powerful his family is and he does seem to be such an upstanding medical student.'...
Why come forward now?
'Several reasons, one being that I saw him in the media from what I felt was sources being portrayed as such a wonderful gentlemanly scholarly dedicated, you know, physician and I just didn't feel that was true.'
THIRD STATEMENT
From a woman who says Smith raped her in 1988, at his apartment in Washington, after the two had been at a party together:
'It was one of those parties that just the whole house got kind of trashed from all the people ... there were so many people in the house ... there was beer on the floor ... that kind of thing ... and then I don't know ... I got pretty drunk.
'I just thought he was going to be a gentleman and let me sleep in his bed ... I mean that's really what I thought and I didn't even think anything ... I mean it's a king-size bed ... it was a huge bed so I wouldn't of even of thought anything of it if he had slept next to me you know.
'I was about to lie down and ... and he like took off my shorts and I thought he was ... I still thought ... I mean at that point I began to get a little scared but I kind of said you know stop it ... I just want to go to sleep ... leave me alone and I don't know, he started getting just more and more aggressive and ... and ... I didn't know what to do.
'I began to realize he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
'I can't even describe the fear I mean it was ... it was like ... I felt so out of control.
'I realized I ... I can't ... I have to go along with this ... I can't fight at this point ... that this ... he's going to hurt me and I could see it in his face ... he was such a ... ferocious ... almost animal-like kind of look to him ... it was just horrible.
'He said stop fighting or stop it ... you know ... that kind of thing.
'I sort of passed out at some point in the middle of it ... I ... I just don't even remember.
'When he took off his clothes, he reached over to the dresser and pulled out a condom.'...
After charges that Smith raped a Florida woman became public this year, Smith ...
'Did try to call me through friends....
'I just didn't want to talk to him ... I think I would have gotten sick if I had spoken with him.'
Did other Kennedy family members or friends try to contact her?
'No. Unless his lawyer counts.'...
Why didn't she press charges in 1988?
'I had been advised by a lawyer at the time not to press charges, not to do anything and ... and the Kennedys you know, you'll never win.'...
She came forward now, she said, because ...
'If he wins or loses, that message is going to go across to college campuses and to other people and if ... if he gets away with it ... then the message is going to be clear that this is OK.'
What is especially noteworthy today is that Ms. Mangum seems to have skipped the polygraph and voice-stress hurdles put in front of (and surmounted) by Mr. Bowman; NO ONE has come forward to allege any sexual misconduct by ANY of the Duke Three; and it has been discovered that Ms. Mangum previously claimed to have been gang raped before and that claim was not deemed credible.
Should the credibility of Ms. Mangum's gang rape claims depend upon the color of those she accuses, or whether the families of those she accuses are wealthy, or whether the ones she accused are Yankees or natives, or whether or not a Democrat primary and unemployment are imminent for the incumbent Durham District Attorney?
Let's reject the premise that any of those factors should be relevant.
Should an accuser passing a polygraph PRECEDE indictment of those accused of raping the accuser?
Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.
Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.
The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.
Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.
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