Alex Kelly Rape Trials: 1996-97

The defense began its case with an appearance by Kelly's girlfriend Amy Molitor, whose family's Jeep Wagoneer he was using on the night of the incident. Molitor was an object of constant fascination to the press and the public, who speculated what was going on in the mind of the attractive young woman who came to court every day with Kelly, holding his hand. To cast doubt on the idea that Kelly would force sex upon anyone, Puccio had Molitor testify that she and Kelly were involved in an intimate relationship during the period when the incident took place. More significantly, Puccio asked Molitor to describe how two hands were needed to lower the back seat of her family's Jeep. Pressing the point without objection, Puccio arranged to have the jury view the vehicle itself and let them examine how the seat-lowering mechanism worked.

Puccio's contention that the sex was consensual was seconded by Joe Kelly, Alex's father, who recalled confronting his son in the middle of the night over a phone call from Adrienne's father." 'Alex,' I said, 'Mr. Bak says you raped his daughter," Kelly testified. "He said, 'Dad, I didn't rape his daughter. We had sex. Dad, go to bed.'" Prosecutor Bruce Huddock objected vociferously while Joe Kelly spoke. Judge Nigro sustained the objection and ordered Kelly's remarks stricken from the record. Puccio concluded his case with medical experts who testified about the effects of alcohol and the sexual behavior of adolescents. He accused Ortolano of willingly and drunkenly losing her virginity to Alex Kelly, then trying to cover up feelings of shame or disappointment. When Puccio presented his final arguments, he presented a scenario in which the "victim" was a liar bent on persecuting his client.

After several days of deliberations, the jury remained deadlocked 4-2 in favor of conviction. Judge Nigro declared a mistrial. The jurors voting against conviction wondered why the Baks had not reported the rape to police immediately. Jurors also realized that Ortolano's claims that Kelly's hands never left her throat and that he had lowered the back seat could not both be true, since the seat release required manual operation. Meanwhile, the public relations brawl surrounding the trial tumbled into the courthouse parking lot. "They came in here totally coiffed and dressed to kill," the abrasive Puccio said of Ortolano and her family. "You might even say they liked being here." Ortolano's lawyer responded furiously, accusing Puccio of pandering to the worst possible stereotypes of rape victims.

When Kelly's retrial began on April 9, 1997, Judge Kevin Tierney had replaced Judge Nigro. Tierney immediately dismissed the kidnapping charge against Kelly on grounds that there was insufficient proof of an abduction. Yet the prosecution was better prepared, both emotionally and in terms of new evidence. Ortolano testified that she had made "a mistake" in the first trial by insisting that Kelly's hands never left her throat as he pushed her into the back of the Jeep. She said that Kelly had removed one hand long enough to flip the seat release. Although Puccio accused her of changing her testimony, her claim agreed with the original statement she gave Darien police.

Despite Ortolano's adamant denials, Puccio charged that she had been smoking pot at the party the night of the incident, lowering her inhibitions. Puccio succeeded in introducing evidence that the blood on her underwear contained traces of marijuana. Puccio strove to destroy Ortolano's credibility, but she was more self-composed than she had been during the first trial. After she described the violent details of the rape, Puccio asked her how long the episode had lasted.

"Forever," she replied.

The defense's credibility problems increased. Thomas Kelly, an unrelated friend of Alex's, testified that Alex told him the day after the incident that the girl had been driven home by her friends, not by him. In retrospect, this was clearly a lie. Asked why he had not given this damaging information in the first trial, Thomas Kelly simply replied that no one had asked him to testify.