Smith Rape Case Prosecutor Asks for New Judge
The prosecution in the William Kennedy Smith rape case filed a motion Tuesday demanding a new judge in the trial.
The state motion, filed late in the afternoon, asked Palm Beach Circuit Judge Mary Lupo to step down on the grounds that she was biased and had personal and professional conflicts in the case.
“Judge Lupo continually expresses her dislike and prejudice against the State and its prosecution through negative facial expressions, i.e., scowling, glaring and frowning,” prosecutor Moira Lasch said in the motion.
The alleged victim also filed a statement with the court supporting Lasch’s motion.
Lasch also cited as a conflict the personal and professional relationships between Lupo’s husband and daughter and relatives of another state prosecutor involved in the case.
Smith, nephew of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), was originally to go on trial Aug. 5 on charges of raping a Florida woman at the Kennedy family compound in Palm Beach on Easter weekend. Smith denies the accusation.
After the prosecution last month made public accounts of three other women who said Smith had attempted to assault them, Lupo granted a defense request to delay the trial.
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