SOUTHLAND : No Double Jeopardy, Judge Says, Refuses to Drop Buckey Counts

The judge in the McMartin Pre-School molestation case today refused to dismiss any of the charges in defendant Ray Buckey’s second trial, saying there is no double jeopardy issue involved.

Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg acknowledged that some testimony in Buckey’s trial may not have matched exactly the charges against him. But he said the accounts by three young girls provided sufficient evidence to support continued trial of the allegations.

The judge said the defense arguments concerning inconsistencies in testimony can be made to the jury when the case is submitted for decision.

Weisberg said the jury in Buckey’s first trial did not resolve any of the facts in the eight charges which were refiled and thus presented no problem of double jeopardy--the principle that a person cannot be tried twice for something of which he was already acquitted.

Buckey’s attorney, Danny Davis, had wanted to have five of the eight charges against Buckey dismissed, claiming double jeopardy and denial of due process.