Defense attorney David Hoose said a member of Oppenheim's family, a witness on his behalf, is due to have a medical procedure, making it difficult for Oppenheim to focus on the case.
David F. Oppenheim, founder of the Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton, during a Hampshire Superior Court appearance.NORTHAMPTON – A Hampshire Superior Court judge has tentatively rescheduled the rape trial of David F. Oppenheim for September due to an illness in the defendant’s family.
Oppenheim, 37, is charged with having sex on multiple occasions with a girl under the age of 15 to whom he was giving acting lessons. The girl had performed in a musical at the Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton, which Oppenheim founded. According to prosecutors, the girl said the abuse took place while Oppenheim was teaching her an acting technique called “primitives,” in which she was supposed to keep a journal describing her reaction to various physical sensations.
Oppenheim was due to go to trial next month, but defense lawyer David P. Hoose told Judge Jeffrey Kinder that a member of his family, who is also a witness on his behalf, is due to have a medical procedure on Aug. 17, making it difficult for Oppenheim to focus on the case.
Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Linda Pisano objected to the continuation, saying that the victim and some other witnesses will be away at college after September and returning for the trial would be onerous for them. After consulting the parties, Pisano told Kinder Sept. 18 would be preferable to a later date.
Hoose told the judge he is due to begin the Anthony P. Baye trial the following week, but said a judge’s ruling on his motion to suppress evidence in the Baye case could affect the trial date. Baye is accused of setting 15 fires in Northampton on the night of Dec. 27, 2009, one of which took the lives of a father and son. His defense team is seeking to suppress evidence from an interview with police in which he admitted to some of the fires, contending that Baye was denied his right to an attorney.
Kinder put Oppenheim on the September trial list, but told Hoose he could file another motion to continue it depending on the status of the Baye trial.