McMartin Case Defendant Sues for Millions
Peggy McMartin Buckey, acquitted of molestation charges in the McMartin Pre-School case, filed a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit Friday, alleging that her civil rights were violated by the county, the City of Manhattan Beach and others.
“If there are . . . people who are innocent like us, it can happen to you,” Buckey, 63, warned at a press conference, where she was joined by her mother, nursery founder Virginia McMartin, 82, and daughter, Peggy Ann Buckey, 33, both former defendants in the case.
“I’m tired of going to court,” she said. “I’m tired of what I have endured. But we have lost three homes and our school, and I feel I have a right to have a home again.”
Buckey said the family has been living off her husband’s earnings as an aircraft company electrical technician, her and her mother’s Social Security, their daughter’s teaching salary, and help from their church.
The suit was filed on Buckey’s behalf by lawyer James H. Davis one day after she and her son, Ray Buckey, 31, were acquitted of 52 molestation charges.
The lawsuit names as defendants Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles County, former Dist. Atty. Robert H. Philibosian, Children’s Institute International, the child-abuse center where children were interviewed, social worker Kee MacFarlane, Capital Cities/ABC Inc., and former television reporter Wayne Satz.
It alleges violation of civil rights, conspiracy, malicious prosecution and defamation, and it seeks general damages of $1 million plus further damages according to proof on each count, attorneys’ fees, special damages, prejudgment interest on damages and other relief.
Ray Buckey, meanwhile, remained in seclusion, awaiting a Jan. 31 hearing to determine whether he will be retried on 13 counts on which the jury deadlocked. Deputy Dist. Atty. Roger Gunson said he and co-prosecutor Lael Rubin are re-evaluating the evidence after talking with jurors and the parents of children involved. If the prosecutors should decide to refile the charges, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders would determine whether they would be tried again. He said he would confer with two other judges before ruling.
Ray Buckey’s criminal defense lawyer, Danny Davis, said he advised his client to forget about suing anyone and to get on with his life, saying that a lawsuit is pointless because it does not bring any real “remedy.” However, his civil lawyer, Scott Bernstein, already has filed the necessary government claim notices that must precede a formal lawsuit.
At the press conference, the family members told of death threats issued in the aftermath of the verdict, and said they are considering moving out of Southern California.
“My husband was threatened in court yesterday,” Buckey told reporters. “They told him, ‘You’re gonna be killed.’ ”
And as she left the downtown criminal courts building by a back entrance, she was met by parents and children from her now-defunct Manhattan Beach nursery school.
“A mother threatened me, and the children gave me the finger and screamed and yelled at me,” Buckey said. “I turned and said, ‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ ”
She said her Christian faith helped her endure the last six years, which included nearly two years in jail at Sybil Brand Institute for Women. “If it weren’t for God,” Buckey said, “I’d never have been able to survive jail, where I was mentally and physically abused.” She said she believes jail held a lesson for her:
“I’d never been an underdog and I was the worst kind (an accused molester) you can be.”
She said she now plans to do volunteer work with animals and prisoners, and to keep visiting rest homes on weekends. During the three-year trial, she crocheted 50 lap robes for the elderly.
Former defendants Virginia McMartin and Peggy Ann Buckey previously filed a similar suit in which the principal defendants are Satz and ABC. It is in the early stages of pretrial litigation.
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