Chaos in the courtroom: Jurors who saw witness's actions say they remain impartial

Defense attorney Thomas Reid paces the courtroom as he questions the state's main witness on Tuesday in Strafford Superior Court in Dover. (Rochester Voice photos)

DOVER - The second day of a former Rochester Police officer's rape trial featured a withering cross-examination of the state's main witness, the woman who said he violently grabbed her hair, dragged her to her knees in the kitchen of her friend's house and performed a sex act on her in 2017.
Randy Smith, 37, of Misty Lane, Rochester, a longtime patrolman who rose to the rank of sergeant on the Rochester force, is charged with using "superior strength" and/or the "element of surprise" in both the 2017 incident and a 2019 encounter, in which he is accused of attempted aggravated felonious sexual assault. Each Class A felony carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.

Former Rochester Police Officer Randy Smith listens to testimony during his rape trial being held this week in Strafford Superior Court in Dover.

Defense attorney Thomas Reid began his questioning by asking the alleged victim, who admitted she had multiple consensual sexual encounters with Smith over several years, why she hadn't told police about the 2017 incident when she first came forward with the 2019 charges and why it took her nine months to tell police about the March 2019 incident.
Within 10 minutes of contentious back and forth between her and Reid, she said she needed a break from questioning, which Judge Mark E. Howard agreed to, stating there would be a five-minute recess, which turned out to be nearly an hour.
When Howard returned, he apprised the court of a development that ensued immediately following his calling the recess.
Howard told the court he had just visited the jury room and asked anyone who had heard the witness say anything as they were leaving the courtroom for the recess to raise their hands.
None did, he said.
He then asked them to raise their hands if they'd witnessed any actions the witness had made upon the announcement of the recess.
He said four jurors raised their hands.
Howard added that he then asked if any juror who thought what had happened would affect their ability to judge the credibility of the witness to raise their hands.
None did, he said.
Howard said at that point it was his decision to continue the trial, but be open to any additional jury instructions that may be brought forward by either defense or prosecutors as the trial moves toward its conclusion and jury deliberations.
When Reid resumed his hours-long cross examination he continued to question the alleged victim's memory issues, which arose from a traumatic brain injury suffered in a car crash while she was in high school.
Reid referenced an email sent to the Rockingham County attorneys office in October 2020 that said she'd spent the last nine months "trying to put together" what happened in the March 2019 incident, during which Smith is alleged to have tried to forcibly take her pants off several times and threw her on a couch in her house.
"Why did it take you so long," Reid asked.
"I wanted to be sure as I possibly could be," she answered.
"It took you 14 months getting your memory together?" Reid questioned.
Reid then read from the victim's statements to investigators that said Smith had been more aggressive in the 2019 incident then ever before.
"You mean you didn't think the 2017 (sex act) was aggressive?" Reid argued.
"I owned that because we'd been talking about it, that he wanted one before his deployment (to Afghanistan)," she said.
Smith was hired by the Rochester Police Department on Nov. 5, 2007, and promoted to Patrol Sergeant in April 2016, however returned to Patrol in 2020 due to personal reasons.
Due to personal reasons (not a demotion and not the result of a personnel matter) he transferred from patrol Sergeant back to Patrol Officer in January 2020, according to a statement from Rochester Police Capt. Todd Pinkham.
Pinkham said they received a complaint against Smith in January of 2020.
"It was immediately apparent that this would lead to a criminal investigation and that we had a conflict," he said. "The Strafford County Attorney was consulted and NHSP Troop A was contacted to investigate the allegation."
Smith was immediately placed on administrative leave (with pay) pending the conclusion of the investigation.
After his August 2020 indictment his certification was suspended by Police Standards and Training, and he was placed on administrative leave without pay in November 2020 pending the outcome of a criminal trial, Pinkham added.
Smith remains on administrative leave without pay.
The trial continues today and is scheduled to run till Dec. 21, according to prosecuting attorney John Goodlander.