The Region : Dismissals Sought in McMartin Case

Four defense attorneys in the McMartin Pre-School molestation hearing asked the court to dismiss some of the counts against their clients on the grounds that the statute of limitations has expired. Defense attorneys sought dismissal of counts against the school’s founder Virginia McMartin, 77; Peggy Ann Buckey, 29; Betty Raidor, 65, and Babette Spitler, 37, after discovery that the Legislature may have erred when it revised the Penal Code last year and apparently mistakenly shortened the statute of limitations for acts of child molestation committed before 1982. Attorneys for the other defendants, Raymond Buckey, 26; Peggy McMartin Buckey, 58, and Mary Ann Jackson, 57, said they had not decided whether to join in the motion.