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TIME: Almanac 1993
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TIME Almanac 1993.iso
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052791
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0527102.000
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1992-08-28
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NATION, Page 24When in Doubt, Obfuscate
Ted Kennedy's handling of the Palm Beach rape case echoes an
old pattern of recklessness, evasion and irresponsibility
By MARGARET CARLSON
The facts are different, but the drama surrounding the
Kennedys' latest tragedy has a familiar feel to it -- as if
their family tradition includes rules on how to behave when they
get into trouble. First, confine risky behavior to one of the
vacation houses where the local police are malleable. Second,
surround yourself with the best lawyers and investigators the
combined trust funds can buy. Third, when finally cornered by
the press, promise total cooperation and regret that you cannot
say more because it might impede the official investigation.
Fourth, impede the official investigation.
This strategy was so successful that Senator Edward
Kennedy managed to keep his seat in Congress and even run a
plausible campaign for the presidency after Chappaquiddick. The
Kennedy approach is at work again in the investigation by Palm
Beach police into charges that William Kennedy Smith raped a
young woman on the grounds of the Kennedy estate during Easter
weekend.
The 1,300 pages of official documents released last week
show that the Senator initially stonewalled the police and that
neither he nor his son Patrick, 23, a Rhode Island legislator,
was truthful about what he knew and when he knew it. The first
lie was told when the police showed up at the Kennedy home while
the family was preparing for lunch, shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday.
William Barry, a former FBI agent who was a guest for the
weekend, answered the door and told the officers that the
Senator was not there and that his nephew might have already
left town. In fact, both men were at the house, and a servant
later told investigators that Barry and the Senator conferred
in the kitchen right after the police left. Police say that when
they phoned an hour later, a housekeeper told them Barry had
taken the Senator and Smith to the airport. Yet Kennedy did not
depart until the next day.
Kennedy maintained that he did not know any rape
allegations had been made against his nephew until after he
returned to Washington. He later conceded that "Barry indicated
to me that he had a call for me from the police," but the
Senator never called the investigators back. He did, however,
try to call Miami defense attorney Marvin Rosen three times by
Sunday night. (Rosen's partner is now representing Smith.) In
his sworn deposition, Patrick says he and his father talked
about Smith's "whacked-out friend" shortly after the first
police visit.
In getting Smith a lawyer, Kennedy acted like any
concerned uncle. But in other ways his actions were reckless and
irresponsible. It was Kennedy who roused his son and nephew from
a sound sleep on Good Friday night to ask, according to the
Senator's own deposition, "if they wanted to have a couple of
beers." The three men then set out for Au Bar, Palm Beach's
hottest club, thus setting in motion the chain of events that
ended with the alleged rape. There they met the 29-year-old
woman who later accused Smith, and Michele Cassone, 27.
Eventually, the five revelers returned to the Kennedy
estate. What happened there is in dispute. According to the
victim's deposition, Smith invited her to walk on the beach with
him and then, as she attempted to leave, raped her by the pool.
Smith refused to give police a statement, but Barry's son says
he briefly saw two people lying on the lawn -- which may raise
some doubt as to whether force was used. Sometime between two
and four in the morning, Cassone decided to leave. The victim,
meanwhile, called a friend to pick her up. The next morning,
according to Patrick's deposition, Smith told him that he had
had sex with the woman.
Once the depositions were made public last week, Kennedy
altered his explanation again, saying his failure to call back
the police in Palm Beach was a "semantic misunderstanding." He
said he was confused because Florida, like many states, uses the
term sexual battery instead of rape. Yet the Senator's puzzling
words and deeds have given the incident a new and troubling
dimension: whatever judgment is ultimately passed on William
Smith, Kennedy and others from his household may face
obstruction-of-justice charges for misleading police. That would
be a novel situation, for facing up to consequences is one thing
that has not been part of the Ted Kennedy tradition.