When the prosecutor asked the victim to recall what had happened to her, she said, “I woke up one morning and Patrick was on top of me and…” The victim was unable to complete the sentence and broke down crying. After a recess, she took the stand again and told the prosecutor that when she woke up on the morning of Mar. 2, 1998, Kennedy was on top of her. She stated that he covered her eyes and then raped her. She explained that afterwards he told her to tell the police a story he made up. She said she fainted shortly thereafter and could not remember anything else leading up to her arrival at the hospital.
In addition to the victim’s testimony, Kennedy’s goddaughter, now in her 20s, took the stand and testified that Kennedy had abused her twice and had had sexual intercourse with her once when she was a child. She said she later told her family about the incidents, but was told to keep quiet.
Kennedy’s defense focused on the inconclusive blood tests and their theory that the victim had been pressured to change her story.
On Aug. 25, 2003, a jury found Kennedy guilty of aggravated rape. The following day, in a unanimous decision, they recommended the death penalty. The following month, the district court denied a motion filed by Kennedy’s attorneys asking for a new trial and formally sentenced him to death.
In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed death sentences involving the rape of an adult, but the ruling failed to address cases of child rape, thus allowing Louisiana to follow its own guidelines. Under Louisiana law, individuals convicted of aggravated rape can be sentenced to death if the victim is less than 12 years old.
When the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld Kennedy’s sentence, Justice Jeffrey Victory wrote, “Our state legislature and this court have determined this category of aggravated rapist to be among those deserving of the death penalty, and short of first-degree murder, we can think of no other non-homicide crime more deserving.”
Kennedy’s lawyers challenged the ruling in federal court, and the case eventually made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, who has since agreed to hear the case.
