Final Arguments Begin in McMartin Trial

Prosecutors began a low-key analysis of evidence in the McMartin Pre-School molestation trial Thursday, as final arguments commenced in a trial of record duration that has involved more than two years of testimony, much of it from children.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Roger Gunson promised to demonstrate in his arguments how the alleged abuse could have gone undetected for so long at the Manhattan Beach nursery school and how 60,000 pages of evidence and 124 witnesses established “beyond a reasonable doubt” the guilt of Ray Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey.

By the end of the morning, the soft-spoken prosecutor had embarked on a painstaking analysis of each alleged victim’s testimony.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders has allotted each side 6 1/2 days for argument--that stage in a trial when attorneys attempt to tie the facts together for the jury and comment on the evidence--after which Pounders will instruct the panel and it will begin deliberations.

The arbitrary time limit means that the case will go to the jury before the end of this month. After the prosecution’s opening arguments, the defense will argue its case. The prosecution, which has the burden of proof, then gets the final word with closing arguments.

Pounders began condensing the trial as the jury dwindled because of health problems and other difficulties. There are now 12 jurors remaining and no alternates.

The judge said the jury will not be sequestered during deliberations, but will be required to turn in each verdict as it is reached on 65 counts of molestation and conspiracy against the Buckeys.

The verdicts will be sealed until the conclusion, although Pounders said he may ask for a progress report in what could be a lengthy process of sifting through the evidence. “If they have been in deliberations for more than a month, we may bring them in and see where they stand,” he said.

Jurors yawned throughout the detailed presentation by Gunson, as did defendant Ray Buckey, who also occasionally smiled and shook his head.

Outside the courtroom, Buckey described Gunson’s summary as “deadly, boring and very selective.” He said the jurors did not appear to be taking notes, “so I think they’ve made up their minds. I’m still fearful. I don’t know what they’re going to do.”

Gunson argued that children cannot be programmed or brainwashed, as alleged by the defense, and that victims frequently deny having been abused or don’t tell for years, particularly when there is an escalation of abuse through enticement, entrapment and secrecy, when the relationship is one of affection, and when games or threats are involved. Children may also feel that they are somehow to blame, he said.

Using slides, transcripts of testimony and an 11-foot-high time chart, Gunson showed how two of the victims, both girls, could have been molested during times Buckey claims he was not even at the school, and how the defense’s own medical witness corroborated the molestation of one of them.

He said the flat, rote-sounding quality of one girl’s testimony did not indicate coaching but rather how a traumatized person is able to handle repeated molestation. And he said that minor inconsistencies are inevitable when the testimony concerns events that happened years earlier.

The children were between 2 and 5 years old at the time of the alleged crimes; many are now teen-agers.

The case, which has cost taxpayers $15 million, began in 1983, when a mother complained that her 2 1/2-year-old son had been molested by “Mr. Ray.” Seven teachers at the seaside school were ordered to stand trial after an 18-month preliminary hearing; however, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner dropped charges against five of them, citing insufficient evidence.

The 2 1/2-year trial of the Buckeys, originally charged with 100 counts of molestation and conspiracy, was scaled down after some parents refused to allow their children to testify. If convicted on all remaining counts, the Buckeys face life in prison.

NEXT STEP

* Arguments will last 13 days in the McMartin case. After that, the judge will instruct jurors. Deliberations could begin by the end of the month. If convicted, the Buckey’s could go to prison for life.