Candid Prospective Juror Gets Laughs at Smith Trial

A 78-year-old prospective juror and self-described oddball left the decorum of the William Kennedy Smith rape trial a shambles Tuesday with a free-wheeling commentary on life, politics and the foibles of the Kennedy family.

“I don’t know who was running around without his pants,” declared Florence Orbach, a Palm Beach widow, referring to reports that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) wandered partly clad on the night of an alleged rape at his family estate. “I think it was the fat guy.”

And she went on to say that she, for one, also does not care “who diddled who.”

By the time her interview for jury selection was over, Judge Mary Lupo had clapped her hands over her face to hide her laughter, defense counsel Roy Black was struggling to control himself and the press room was in an uproar. Sheriff’s deputies and Palm Beach County Courthouse personnel jammed the press room to witness the launch of Orbach’s comedic career on the TV monitors that have been set up for the burgeoning press corps.

Smith, the nephew of Sen. Kennedy, is accused of raping a Jupiter, Fla., woman at the family estate in the early morning hours last March 30. So far, 29 Palm Beach County residents have been interviewed in the jury selection process, which began last Thursday.

Meanwhile, Judge Lupo ruled that she would exclude a number of details of the personal background of the accuser that the defense has sought to bring into the case. The judge said that she would reserve rulings on two other motions for specific information.

The exclusion may be significant because the defense has sought to bring in details of the accuser’s drug use, sexual behavior and psychological problems to paint her as a promiscuous and vengeful man-hater. But Florida’s rape shield law limits how much of an alleged sex-crime victim’s life can be brought out in a trial.

Orbach, who lives alone in a condo development that she complained is infested with bingo players, declared at the beginning of the courtroom session that “I’ve had to suppress myself my entire life. Now I’m going to be me.”

And she shared these observations:

--She wouldn’t have gone to Au Bar, the chic saloon where Smith met the alleged victim “for a very practical reason. Who am I going to meet at my age? I need a gigolo?” Besides, the bar was overpriced, she said, for a woman who gave up cigarettes in disgust when their price reached 15 cents a pack.

--Sen. Kennedy is “idealistic, but maybe he’s a little horny.” Still, she allowed, “Richard Nixon ate cottage cheese and he wanted to conquer the world.”

--She has sympathy for the women’s movement but “they bring in the bisexuals, the trisexuals, they get crazy.”

In other developments, Judge Lupo denied a defense motion to dismiss the charges for prosecutorial misconduct. The defense moved in June for a dismissal on grounds that the prosecutors had coached the victim and unfairly publicized damaging allegations.

Lupo offered no reason for her decision.