Police, Kennedy Detectives Visiting Nightclubs

PALM BEACH, Fla. â€”  Investigators for both sides in an alleged rape at the Kennedy estate are roaming nightclubs trying to assemble a portrait of the woman who says she was attacked.

Private investigators hired by the Kennedy family and police detectives have been talking with acquaintances of the woman, employees at her favorite nightclubs and those who were with her the night before the alleged assault.

More than 100 people have been interviewed.

An employee at the Safari & Polo Club said late Saturday that the woman was in the bar the night of March 29 and that the Kennedy investigators were interested in how much she drank before the alleged attack early March 30.

The woman’s attorney, David Roth, sharply criticized the private detectives Friday, accusing them of witness-tampering and obstruction of justice.

Mark Schnapp, attorney for suspect William Kennedy Smith, the 30-year-old nephew of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), said there has been “no intimidation or any attempt to intimidate any witness in the case.�

Smith has denied wrongdoing in the alleged assault. No charges have been filed.

Smith, a Georgetown University medical student, says the woman’s contention that she was raped was a lie and that force was never used. She responded through Roth on Friday that her claims were true and denounced Smith’s statement.

Police investigators have been questioning people at the Au Bar, the nightclub where Smith, Sen. Kennedy and the senator’s son, Patrick, a legislator in Rhode Island, met the woman the night of March 29.

“The first people they talked to were my (parking) valets,� the Au Bar manager said. “They wanted to know what kind of shape she was in when she got here and how she looked when she left.�

Meanwhile, the prosecutor’s office is awaiting results of forensics tests on hair and blood from Smith, to see if they match evidence taken the day of the alleged assault. The results could be available as early as today, officials say.