Judge Reschedules Smith Rape Trial for Earlier Start

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —  A judge Wednesday moved up the starting date for William Kennedy Smith’s rape trial.

The trial had been set to start Jan. 13, but Smith’s lead attorney, Roy Black, is scheduled to defend a client in another trial that starts just a week earlier. Prosecutor Moira Lasch argued that letting the Jan. 13 date stand could force Smith’s trial to be delayed until next summer.

Circuit Judge Mary Lupo then ordered that jury selection begin Oct. 30 and scheduled opening statements to begin Dec. 2. She said the six jurors would not be sworn in before then.

Attorneys in the case have estimated that it could take three weeks or longer to select the jurors. Lupo said in her order that the two sides expect trial testimony to last two to three weeks.

Smith, 31, a nephew of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), has denied that he raped a 30-year-old Jupiter, Fla., woman March 30 at his family’s Palm Beach estate.

Smith’s trial at first was to begin Aug. 5, but his attorneys gained a postponement on grounds that they needed more time to prepare a defense. They also cited publicity about the case.