William Kennedy Smith

Passions

Vocation

Family

American noted family, the second son of Jean Kennedy Smith and the grandson of Joseph Kennedy Sr. On the evening of Good Friday, 3/29/1991, he went partying with his Uncle Ted and cousin Patrick in Palm Beach, Florida. At a local bar they exchanged repartee with several young women while drinking. Returning to the Kennedy compound, he was accused of raping a young woman during the early hours of the next day. The alleged victim, with whom he said he had consensual sex, was Patty Bowman, born 8/11/1961, Akron, OH. The Kennedy scandal-kit went into action with high powered and pricey lawyers. The rape trial began with jury selection early in November in West Palm Beach, with the trial opening 12/02/1991, after lunch. Kennedy was acquitted nine days later, 12/11/1991. His inheritance from his dad, Stephen Smith, who died in 1990, went toward the $1 million spent in defense and he planned to borrow money to finish paying off his legal bills. William was a fourth year med student at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. According to medical school classmates, he has championed on-campus rights for women and minorities, designed a program to help physicians interact with terminally ill kids and continues to make his rounds at Georgetown University Med Center. Others related that he is "shy and quiet, always a gentleman." He was in the news again on 10/23/1993 for assaulting a bouncer outside an Arlington, Virginia bar, and sentenced to 100 hours free medical care at the Chicago Community clinic where he is completing his three-year residency, and to serve 12 months probation. On August 25, 2004, 28-year old Audra Soulias filed a civil lawsuit in Cook County, IL against Smith, charging that, after a night of drinking in January 1999, Smith forced her out of a cab, dragged her into his home and sexually assaulted her. At the time of the alleged incident, she was his personal assistant at the Center for International Rehabilitation, a group led by Smith that helps land mine victims. Denying the charge, Smith resigned from his position at the center on August 27, 2004 as a way to "protect the organization I love." On January 4, 2005, a Chicago judge dismissed a lawsuit that had been filed by his former personal assistant Audra Soulias. Soulias had claimed that he sexually assaulted her in 1999. Link to Wikipedia biography