Kennedy Aura Hangs Over Jury Selection in Smith Case

The search that began Thursday for six people to hear rape charges against William Kennedy Smith often sounded like a review of Kennedy family triumph and tragedy as prospective jurors were invited to reminisce about one of the most famous names in American history.

Prosecutor Moira K. Lasch told the first of 400 potential jurors: “The verdict is not to be influenced in any way by the defendant’s relation to the Kennedy family.” But, clearly, the mystique and reputation of the Kennedy family--powerful, wealthy and endlessly fascinating to much of the nation--hung over Thursday’s proceedings like stardust.

Smith, 31, is accused of raping a 29-year-old woman on the lawn of the Kennedy family compound here last Easter weekend after a night of drinking in a local bar with his uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), and the senator’s son, Patrick.

Roy Black, Smith’s attorney, asked prospective panelists what they knew about three generations of Kennedys, eliciting references to family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy’s reputation as a Depression-era bootlegger and the Chappaquiddick death involving Sen. Kennedy, as well as his reported problems with alcohol, and even John F. Kennedy Jr.’s struggle to pass the bar exam.

Throughout the day, reporters in the courtroom, and dozens more who watched on closed circuit television, heard opinions on John F. Kennedy’s womanizing, a recent television mini-series about his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and even family matriarch Rose Kennedy’s health.

“What is the worst thing regarding the Kennedy family you can think of?” asked Black of the first panelist questioned, Priscilla Roper, 44. “Years ago, some of the younger ones were involved with drugs,” Roper said. “Which family member do you respect the least?” Black later asked. “I guess Ted Kennedy,” Roper answered.

Smith, accompanied by his mother, Jean, his brother, two sisters and his aunt, Pat Kennedy Lawford, arrived at the courthouse shortly before 9 a.m., stopping to tell the horde of reporters who awaited him: “I am confident that, when the process is completed, I’ll be found innocent of all charges. I look forward to putting this behind me and getting on with my life and my career, which I’ve missed a great deal in the past several months.”

Seating a panel without fixed opinions about what happened in the highly publicized case is expected to take up to a month. Judge Mary Lupo said that the trial will begin on Dec. 2 and end no later than Dec. 20. The jury will be sequestered.

Jury selection caps months of acrimonious legal skirmishing between Smith’s lawyers and prosecutors. In legal documents and motions, each side has attacked the integrity and character of the other.

The defense has described Smith’s accuser as a drug user with a history of sexual promiscuity. On Tuesday, the judge granted the defense permission to enter into evidence photographs of the accuser’s bra and Victoria’s Secret-brand panties. Black has described the bra as the single most important piece of evidence in the case, arguing that its condition will help disprove the rape charge.