Adam Smith talks to his attorney, J. Drew Segadelli, in court on Tuesday
The Vineyard Gazette
September 7, 2015
Steve Myrick
A 27-year-old Berkeley, Calif. man visiting Martha’s Vineyard as part of a bachelor party weekend was arraigned Tuesday in Edgartown district court on three counts of rape, threatening to commit a crime, and intimidating the victim of the crime.
The court entered not guilty pleas for Adam M. Smith, who is enrolled in a master’s program at the University of California Berkeley, according to his attorney.
Mr. Smith was held after his arrest on $100,000 bail at the Dukes County jail. The Hon. J. Thomas Kirkman lowered the bail to $25,000 at Tuesday’s arraignment.
According to Cape and Islands assistant district attorney Amanda Chaves, a woman and two of her friends agreed to return to a rental home where Mr. Smith and his friends were staying after a night out in downtown Edgartown. Reading from a six-page police report, Ms. Chaves told the court the woman went upstairs with Mr. Smith, became uncomfortable in the situation and tried to leave, and was held down and raped.
“She came downstairs and said they needed to leave,” Ms. Chaves told the court. “She said Adam (Smith) had threatened to kill her with a gun.”
Ms. Chaves argued for bail to remain at $100,000, citing a 2005 alcohol offense in Colorado which involved a default warrant issued by a local court. She also cited the lack of ties to Martha’s Vineyard.
Defense attorney J. Drew Segadelli, representing Mr. Smith, argued for bail to be set at $10,000. He said Mr. Smith had fully cooperated with the investigation.
“At no time is he hiding anything,” Mr. Segadelli told the court. “Police came to his house, he cooperated, he goes to the police station, cooperated. There are significant gaps and questions about what happened.”
In addition to setting bail at $25,000, Judge Kirkman ordered Mr. Smith to surrender his passport and have no contact with anyone involved in the case.
He was ordered to return to Edgartown district court on Oct. 30 for a pretrial hearing.
Edgartown police said they were called to a home in the Katama section of Edgartown just before 2 a.m. Saturday. Police say the alleged victim, a 30-year-old woman told them she was raped at a nearby house. The woman was taken to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and interviewed there, police said.
Edgartown Lieut. Christopher Dolby said during the investigation police learned about a threatening Facebook post by Mr. Smith in which he allegedly threatened to kill police officers. Because of the incident and the Facebook post, the Martha’s Vineyard Law Enforcement Tactical Team was called to help with the arrest. Mr. Smith was arrested at about 7:45 a.m. Saturday, Lieutenant Dolby said.