McMartin Defense Casts Doubt on Medical Data

The attorney for the chief defendant in the record-breaking McMartin Pre-School molestation trial told jurors during closing arguments Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court that the prosecution’s medical evidence is unreliable.

“I’m really bothered by the medical evidence and if you think I’m bothered by it because it affects my client’s fate, you’re right,” said attorney Danny Davis, who represents former teacher Raymond Buckey, 31.

Prosecutors at the trial had presented doctors who testified that they detected signs of molestation in the alleged victims--children who attended the pre-school. The defense contends the medical evidence is unreliable and inexact.

The defense presented its own medical expert, who testified that he could not detect signs of molestation in most of the alleged victims.

“What do you get when you corroborate a crime that didn’t happen?,” Davis asked the jury in reference to the prosecution’s medical evidence. “I’m bothered deeply by the medical evidence.”

Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, 62--both former teachers at the now-closed Virginia McMartin Pre-School in Manhattan Beach--are on trial for one count of conspiracy and 64 counts of child molestation for allegedly sexually abusing 11 of their pupils from 1978 until 1983.

Their trial, now in its third year, is the longest criminal trial in U.S. history. It is also the most expensive, having so far cost county taxpayers more than $15 million since charges were filed more than five years ago.