Local News in Brief : Recruit Acquitted of Rape
A Navy enlistee has been acquitted of charges that he raped one woman and attempted to rape another during a night of revelry by military recruits at an Inglewood hotel.
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Franklin C. Smith, 20, of Carson not guilty of attacking the 19- and 20-year-old women in February at the Airport Park Hotel, where all three were waiting to be shipped to bases around the country for basic training.
Police said Smith forced himself on the women during a drunken rampage at the hotel, which regularly houses enlistees. But Smith testified that he was invited to the girls’ room and that the 19-year-old, who accused him of rape, panicked when hotel security officers came to the door.
Deputy Public Defender Jim Bisnow said that Smith still would like to join the Navy but that recruiters have not been receptive.
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