Alleged Victim in Kennedy Case Gets Offers for Story : Trial: Paramount is among those bidding for film rights. William Kennedy Smith’s lawyers cite publicity in seeking dismissal of rape charge.
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The alleged victim in the rape trial of William Kennedy Smith continues to be flooded with offers to sell her story, including a bid of at least $500,000 this month by Paramount Communications, her attorney testified Thursday.
David Roth, the attorney, said in a pretrial hearing that a reporter for Paramount’s “Hard Copy†television show had thrown out the figure as an opening bid for her cooperation in making a film about the event. Roth said he also had been told that his client had a number of other offers worth “hundreds of thousands of dollars†to help make television shows, miniseries and films and to be interviewed by tabloid newspapers.
The attorney said that Eames Yates, the “Hard Copy†reporter, made clear that the $500,000 bid “was by no means the final offer†from Paramount.
Smith, nephew of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), is charged with raping a 30-year-old Jupiter, Fla., woman at the Kennedy family estate in Palm Beach last March 30. He has strongly denied the charge, and the trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 2.
The testimony came in a hearing on a defense motion to dismiss the charges because of the world-wide publicity that defense attorneys claim will deprive their client of a fair trial. The questioning appeared to be, in part, an attempt to discern whether the woman’s charges were motivated by a desire to make money.
Under questioning by defense attorney Mark Schnapp, Roth insisted that his client has no interest in such ventures. “Every offer that has been made has been summarily rejected,†according to the attorney, who said that he had told Yates “not to come by any more. . . . He was wasting his time and mine.â€
The alleged victim told investigators early in the case that she had been approached by tabloid journalists about buying her story. She said that at one point she was sent a bouquet of roses and an opening offer of $100,000 to help one supermarket tabloid.
Yates declined comment about the project and referred questions to Peter Brennan, “Hard Copy†executive producer. Brennan did not return phone calls seeking elaboration.
Separately, Palm Beach Police Chief Joseph Terlizesse testified that he had taken the unusual step of identifying Smith as a suspect before charges were filed in an effort to knock down rumors that Sen. Kennedy, his son Patrick, nephew John F. Kennedy Jr., or others might be suspects in the case.
Smith was identified as a suspect at a press conference April 5, although charges were not brought until May.
Terlizesse said that one local radio station had broadcast a show discussing false rumors that there had been an “orgy†at the Kennedy compound and other rumors that medical evidence indicated the alleged victim had had sex with more than one man that night.
“There were all sorts of comments being made about all sorts of innocent people,†said Terlizesse. “I felt I had an obligation to put out factual information . . . to straighten out everybody’s thinking that there was not a wild orgy.â€
Meanwhile, a Palm Beach County judge threw out state charges against the Globe supermarket tabloid for publishing the alleged victim’s name when the case first came to light. An 80-year-old Florida law calls for penalties of up to $500 and 60 days in jail for news organizations that publish the names of sex-crime victims.
Judge Robert V. Parker, while acknowledging that the government has a legitimate interest in protecting sex-crime victims, said that interest is less urgent than First Amendment free-speech protections. Noting that only four states have such laws, Parker said that the state’s concerns “about the victim’s safety and privacy are somewhat exaggerated and overblown.â€
The alleged victim “was not in any real, potential danger and surely she must have realized that charges would be filed and that she would have to testify in public,†he wrote.
David Bludworth, the Palm Beach County prosecutor, said that he would appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.
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