'He said she said' rape trial in jury's hands; now they'll have their say

Defense counsel Thomas Reid makes a point during closing arguments at Strafford Superior Court on Tuesday as Judge Mark E. Howard and prosecutor Patricia Conway look on. (Rochester Voice photos)

ROCHESTER - Was former Rochester Police Officer Randy Smith a man obsessed with sex who victimized a Rochester woman twice in two years with unwanted sexual acts and violent sexual advances?
Or was the alleged victim, who according to testimony referred to herself as Smith's second wife, obsessed with him and only went to police after her husband threatened her with divorce if she didn't?
That is just a smidgen of what the jury will have to mull when it begins its deliberations today at Strafford Superior Court.
In the balance lies a potential of 40 years in state prison if the jury finds Smith guilty of a 2017 rape and a 2019 attempted rape.

Defendant Randy Smith, front, and defense attorney Timothy J. Black leave a Strafford Superior Courtroom during a brief recess on Tuesday.

Both Smith and the alleged victim have known each other for nearly 20 years and been close - even off and on intimate - friends until the March 19, 2019, encounter at her Rochester home where he had gone to get a corned beef she'd offered to him and his family after he couldn't find any left at a grocery store.
At the outset of the encounter, Smith kissed her on the mouth and she kissed back, she said, but only for a moment before she pushed him away. Moments later she testified that he shoved her onto the couch, tried to unbutton her pants and put his hands up her blouse.
It was at that point that one of her dogs began jumping on Smith, she testified, and she was able to get up and get away.
During closing arguments defense counsel Thomas Reid said Smith may have "groped" her, but that didn't rise to the level of attempted rape.
How do you get from groping to attempted rape, you can't get there," he said. "And when she got up from the couch, he didn't pursue her. He let her go."
Reid also reminded the jury that none of the alleged victim's testimony is corroborated, "so if you don't think her testimony is credible, you can't find him guilty."
Reid argued that the investigation into the March 2019 incident was flawed from the beginning when they didn't do a videotape interview of the alleged victim at the Strafford County Sheriff's Office which is the protocol.
He added that even more stunning was that they never did any investigation into the alleged 2017 rape, in which the defendant allegedly grabbed the alleged victim's hair, dragged her to her knees and performed a sex act on her in Smith's kitchen.
"She said the 2017 incident was very violent and very quick, and this is with someone she loved and idolized and was obsessed with romantically and emotionally?" argued Reid, adding she never talked to anyone about the 2017 incident until July 2020.
"Such a late disclosure is disturbing," he added. "A lot of stuff here just doesn't square up."
Prosecutor Patricia Conway countered in her closing arguments that the facts were she had told him over and over again at the March 2019 incident that "I won't do it, I can't do this, I won't do this to them."
"He didn't care that she didn't consent," Conway declared. "He was aggressive and forceful."
Conway said there had been a lot of testimony during the trial that suggested she liked Smith because she could manipulate him, but the real manipulative one was Smith
"She was the perfect target for Randy to manipulate for his 'sick' desires," Conway argued. "due to her traumatic brain injury, her memory issues and other health issues.
"This made her a perfect victim," she said. "He thought he could manipulate her and she'd never tell anyone."
Conway said it took her nine months to figure for herself what had happened in the March 2019 incident, but when she did she went "bravely to report it to the Rochester Police."

Prior to closing arguments Smith told Judge Mark E. Howard he decided not to testify in the case.