Although judges and juries are instructed to ignore press and spectators, it is important for them to notice that there is interest in this case beyond the families involved, and that their verdict is important and will be reported. Our system of justice balances the rights of the accused and the privacy rights of rape victims with the democratic guarantee that trials will be held in public and not behind closed doors.
I am especially concerned that people be in court to observe the testimony of the victim witness and his mother, which are expected at the beginning, likely Friday, but possibly as early as Thursday afternoon, or going into Monday.
Here is COFAR’s press advisory issued Wednesday, Jan. 7:
updates witness schedule
THE MASSACHUSETTS COALITION OF FAMILIES AND ADVOCATES FOR THE RETARDED, Inc.
Press Advisory: Smith Rape Trial
— Motions, Bristol Superior Court, 9 Court St. Taunton, MA 02780, Wed. January 7, 2 p.m.
— Jury Selection, Bristol Superior Court, 9 Court St. Taunton, MA 02780, Thurs.. January 8, 10 a.m.
Almost exactly three years after a man with developmental disability and his family first went to police in Tiverton, Rhode Island, and Fall River, Mass., and were turned away by both departments, the first defendent in the ongoing abuse and stalking case goes to trial.
Buddy E. Smith of Fall River, who allegedly had been raping the victim-witness for as much as a year before he came to the home in January of 2006, inadvertently met the mother, and described himself as an old friend named “Charlie” — goes on trial before Superior Court Judge Barbara Dortch-Okara on charges of rape, indecent assault on a person with mental retardation, and witness intimidation
Smith was arrested in June, 2006, allegedly continued his crimes while out on $1000 bail for almost two years, but has been in jail since a bail revocation May 7, after stalking incidents at a Rhode Island group home in March and April of last year.
A second defendant, William Senay, uncle of Buddy Smith, awaits trial after his case was severed at a November 24, 2008 hearing. Senay also had bail revoked last July, from personal recognizance to double court probation with a GPS bracelet.
In a separate development, the hate crimes unit of the Massachusetts Attorney General has appointed an advocate for the victim witness in this case.
The victim-witness is expected to begin the prosecution’s case, and at least one family member is also expected to testify for the prosecution, probably on Friday but possibly beginning Thursday Afternoon or moving into Monday.
In a press release issued last May, COFAR Executive Director Colleen M. Lutkevich called this “the worst alleged case of sustained abuse of a person with mental retardation in New England since the Raynham ‘House of Horrors’ was exposed more than 10 years ago.”
COFAR continues to monitor these cases as a measure of the safety of people with mental retardation/developmental disability in the community, the civil rights of victim-witnesses with intellectual disability, and the status of the criminal justice system in respect to our loved ones.
Jury selection was completed yesterday, and the jury is dismissed (so they wouldn’t have to be sequestered over the weekend) and will return Monday at 10 a.m. for opening arguments and the prosecution’s case, which apparently will begin with testimony from the alledged victim-witness.