Parents of former McMartin Preschool students were overjoyed that Raymond Buckey will be retried on the 13 counts of child molestation and conspiracy jurors could not agree upon, but a defense lawyer called the decision outrageous.
Ending speculation he would abandon a case that has dragged through the courts since 1984, District Attorney Ira Reiner said Wednesday that Buckey, acquitted in January of 40 child molestation charges in the nation's longest trial, will be retried on those counts on which the jury deadlocked."Our present intention is to go forward on all 13 counts," Deputy District Attorney Lael Rubin told Superior Court Judge William Pounders, who presided over the first trial. Those include 12 counts of child molestation and one of conspiracy.
Pounders endorsed the decision and scheduled a new trial for March 9, when the process of selecting a new jury will begin. The first trial, in which Buckey's mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, 63, was acquitted of 12 counts of child molestation against her, lasted nearly three years, but prosecutors said the second trial should last no more than three months. The first trial cost taxpayers more than $13 million, making it the longest, costliest criminal proceeding in U.S. history.
"I'm surprised by the decision but looking forward to an ultimate acquittal," Buckey, 31 told KABC-TV, after hearing the announcement while seated in the courtroom next to defense attorney, Danny Davis. Buckey's civil attorney, Scott Bernstein, had a stronger reaction.
"I think it's an outrage," Bernstein said. "The jury heard evidence for 2 1/2 years (and) made the right decision. They should let it go."
But Marilyn Salas, whose son attended the once prestigious Virginia McMartin Preschool in suburban Manhattan Beach, welcomed the news.
"We are beyond joy," she told reporters. "We are thrilled. We didn't know what to expect. There are so many political ramifications, but we thought the outcry from the public over the acquittals has been enormous."
The jury deadlocked on one count of conspiracy against both Buckeys, and Pounders dismissed that charge against Mrs. Buckey, meaning she cannot be retried on any of the charges. The panel also deadlocked on 12 other molestation counts against Ray Buckey involving the alleged sexual abuse of five former students. The jury leaned toward acquittal on all the deadlocked counts.
Rubin said several factors went into the decision to retry the case, including the seriousness of the charges and the commitment of the families to retry the case.
She said the tremendous public outcry over the acquittals and the fact that Reiner is running for state attorney general had nothing to do with the decision to re-try the case.
"Public pressure played no part in it at all," Rubin said.
McMartin parents have lobbied hard for a re-trial, many of them going on the national TV talk show circuit to press their case.
But Reiner said the prime reason behind his decision to retry the case was his belief that children had been molested at the preschool.