William Kennedy Smith

William Kennedy Smith
William Kennedy Smith
Born	September 4, 1960 (age 64)
Education	Duke University ; M.D. (Georgetown University School of Medicine)
Occupation	physician
Parent(s)	Stephen Edward Smith and Jean Kennedy Smith

William Kennedy Smith (born September 4, 1960) is an American physician whose work focuses on landmines and the rehabilitation of people disabled by them. He is a member of the prominent Kennedy political family and is famous for a well-publicized 1991 rape trial in which he was acquitted.

Family

Smith is the second of four children of Stephen Edward Smith and Jean Kennedy Smith. Smith's mother is a daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, so Smith is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Senator Ted Kennedy.

Education and career

He attended boarding school at Salisbury School in Salisbury, Connecticut. He then went on to receive his undergraduate degree from Duke University, completed premedical postbaccalaureate studies at Bryn Mawr College, and his M.D. degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine. He moved to Chicago and worked as a doctor, activist, and teaching physician at the Northwestern University School of Medicine. He founded the Center for International Rehabilitation, "a worldwide humanitarian network of individuals and organizations that promotes the full potential of people with disabilities . . . ." [1] and the CIR program Physicians Against Land Mines (PALM) [2]. He has published several articles concerning landmines, as well as co-writing and narrating a video on the subject.

Sexual assault accusations

1991 rape charge and acquittal

In 1991, Smith was tried and acquitted on a charge of rape. He was represented by prominent Miami-based criminal defense attorney Roy Black. The trial attracted extensive media coverage because of the prominence of the Kennedy family.

The incident began on the evening of March 30, 1991, when Smith, then 30 years old, was in a bar (named Au Bar) in Palm Beach, Florida in the company of his uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy, and his cousin Patrick Kennedy. Smith met a 29-year-old woman, Patricia Bowman. Patrick became acquainted with Michelle Cassone, another young woman who was at the bar. The four of them then went to a nearby house owned by the Kennedy family. Smith and Bowman went for a walk along the beach. She alleged that Smith raped her; Smith testified that the sex was consensual. At a criminal trial later that year, Smith was acquitted of all charges against him.

2004 sexual assault civil charges

In 2004, a former employee of the Center for International Rehabilitation, Audra Soulias, alleged that Smith had sexually assaulted her in 1999, and brought a civil action against him. Smith denied her charges, calling them "outrageous" and saying that "family and personal history have made me unusually vulnerable to these kinds of charges" [3] and resigned from the CIR. On January 5, 2005, the court dismissed Soulias's lawsuit. [4]

In the same time period, it was reported that Laura Hamilton was paid a large sum of money by Smith in an out-of-court settlement. Laura Hamilton charged that Smith "often improperly touched her" and "gave unwanted massages." A draft complaint states, "Dr. Smith continued to rub Ms. Hamilton's belly, inched his hand below her waist, and stuck his tongue in her ear." [5]

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References

"William Kennedy Smith, M.D., Board Member" - biography on website of U.S. International Council on Disabilities
"A Cry in the Dark" - article from Court TV about the 1991 trial