Smith Pleads Not Guilty at Rape Hearing : Courts: Kennedy nephew, who was not required to appear, says he showed up so he could look the judge in the eye. Aug. 5 trial date is set.

William Kennedy Smith, saying he wanted to look the judge in the eye, appeared in court Friday to plead not guilty to charges that he raped a woman at the Kennedy family’s oceanfront estate at nearby Palm Beach.

In a testy arraignment, at which Smith was under no requirement to appear, Circuit Judge Mary Lupo set a trial date of Aug. 5 and rejected the prosecutor’s attempt to keep two Washington lawyers off the defense team.

“It was important that I come down and look at the judge in the eye and tell her I’m not guilty, and I did that,” Smith said to reporters. He refused to answer questions about what took place between him and his accuser. “I’m looking forward to telling my story in court,” he said.

“I’m not guilty, your honor,” Smith said in the courtroom as he took the microphone at the 23-minute proceeding.

Smith, 30, is charged with second-degree sexual battery--called rape in other states--and a misdemeanor battery. A 29-year-old woman who met him March 30 at a chic nightclub in Palm Beach told police that she drove Smith back to the estate and that he tackled and raped her when she tried to leave.

Smith had gone to the nightclub with his uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), and cousin, Patrick Kennedy, the senator’s son, who is a Rhode Island legislator.

At the proceeding, Smith was accompanied by his brother Stephen, a New York lawyer, and his Miami attorney, Mark P. Schnapp. He smiled when he entered the courtroom and again when Schnapp introduced him to Lupo, who smiled in return.

Lupo granted a defense motion to admit Washington attorneys Herbert J. Miller Jr. and Randall Turk to Florida legal practice for this case. Miller headed the Justice Department’s criminal division in the John F. Kennedy Administration.

Prosecutor Moira K. Lasch took the unusual step of opposing the motion, saying she learned that Miller had been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law School when the judge was graduated from the school in 1974.

Even after Lupo had approved the admission of Miller and Turk, Lasch persisted, asking: “Would the court be willing to disclose for the assurance of the victim in this case whether there was any contact at all whatsoever between the court and Mr. Miller at Georgetown?”

An obviously irritated Lupo responded: “Once he has entered an appearance, I’ll take whatever action is appropriate under the circumstances.”

Lasch defended her request as reasonable and said there should be “full disclosure.”

“I have a victim in this case who has stated that she was afraid to report this crime to the Palm Beach police because she felt the Kennedy family and the Kennedy name controlled the administration of the court system and the police department,” Lasch said.

Lupo gave the defense until June 14 to file a motion seeking dismissal of the charges. Ordinarily, such motions are required before arraignment, but Schnapp contended--and Lasch denied--that the prosecution had not turned over all the documents he needed to make the motion.

The judge set June 19 for arguments on defense motions for a gag order in the case and for an AIDS test to be done on the woman who has accused Smith of rape. Smith consented to the woman’s request that his blood be tested for the disease, and Lupo ordered the test done.

Lasch sought the AIDS test at the request of the woman and after an FBI DNA analysis virtually established that the two had had sexual relations. Smith’s motion, citing a defense witness’ sworn testimony that the woman had a reputation of sexual promiscuity, then sought to have her examined. Lasch contended that state law provides no basis for such a test.

Lupo ended the session by telling participants, “Have a pleasant day.”

On leaving the courthouse, Smith, who was graduated earlier this month from Georgetown University Medical School, called the trial “the most important thing in my life.”