On this day, Dec. 2, in 1991, testimony began in the rape trial of William Kennedy Smith. Thirty-one-year-old Smith, a nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, was a medical student at Georgetown University at the time. He faced felony sexual battery and misdemeanor battery charges brought against him by a Florida woman, whom he met March 29 at the Kennedys’ compound in Palm Beach, Fla. Smith testified that the two walked on the beach and later engaged in consensual sex.
During the first day of the 10-day televised trial that captivated millions of viewers, Judge Mary E. Lupo excluded three sworn testimonies from women who claimed Smith had assaulted them in the 1980s.
Smith was acquitted Dec. 12 after the jury deliberated for 77 minutes.
William Kennedy Smith, rape trial, Crime History
