by Val Ellicott
Staff Writer
Members of William Kennedy Smith's defense team
toasted their court victory -- and one of the jurors who acquitted
Smith of rape -- with a late-night celebration party Wednesday at
E.R. Bradley's Saloon.
Juror Lea Haller walked into Bradley's about 11
p.m., not knowing Smith's attorneys were inside. When she saw them,
the hugging and kissing began.
"I said, `Am I back in court again?"'
Haller said as she celebrated with the attorneys and jury selection
consultants who guided Smith through his court ordeal.
Roy Black, Smith's lead attorney, said picking
Smith's jury was the key to his successful defense.
"We were looking for six honest people,"
Black said. "If they were honest and admitted they had
prejudices, I would keep them."
Of prosecutor Moira Lasch, Black said, "She's
more of a Mack truck than a Mercedes." But he also said defense
attorneys would be unwise to underestimate her abilities.
"She and I are not friends at all, in fact we
don't even talk," Black said. "But I admire her skills as a
prosecutor. She did the best she could with what she had."
But Lasch made several critical errors, including
calling Sen. Ted Kennedy to the stand, Black said.
"She underestimated the charisma of Ted
Kennedy," he said.
He also lavished praise on Judge Mary Lupo.
"She was the finest judge we ever appeared in
front of," Black said. "She also worked us harder than any
judge I've ever seen -- 10 hours a day, seven days a week."
Smith was not at the victory party where Black
signed at least one autograph. Smith's attorneys, Black, Mark Seiden,
Mark Schnapp and Holly Skolnick, said he was at the Kennedy family
estate. Also absent was jury selection consultant Cathy Bennett, who
suffers from stomach and colon cancer. She postponed treatment to aid
in Smith's defense.
Bennett's sister, Rebecca Christie, who works with
her, said Bennett received three pints of blood in a transfusion last week.
Smith's attorneys said they spent a tense night
after his accuser testified through tears that Smith tackled her and
raped her at the Kennedy estate on March 30.
"We were very concerned that the jury might be
carried away with all the emotion," Black said. "I thought
her performance was outstanding. It was the best job of preparation
I've ever seen."
Smith's attorneys said they had not slept for 48
hours and were exhausted. The defense team pulled a number of
all-nighters during the trial, they said.
"I don't even know what day it is,"
Seiden said.
*Kennedy Smith case
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