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PROFILES OF KEY PLAYERS
| THE DEFENDANT |
Beth Friedman
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| Beth Friedman |
Friedman, 42, met the alleged victim when he enrolled in her study skills class at Silver Lakes Middle School in North Lauderdale, Fla., toward the end of the 1996-1997 school year. Friedman, the daughter of a jeweler, graduated from law school but chose teaching instead. She had been at Silver Lakes for about four years when Donald Vaden entered her life. She graduated from Nova Southeastern University Law School in 1987 and earned her undergraduate degree in secondary education from Barry University in 1979, three years before Vaden was born.
According to testimony, she taught Sunday school at her temple in Hollywood, Fla. She resigned her teaching position prior to her arrest in August 1999. She faces up to 76 years in prison if convicted of statutory rape charges. The trial, which finally started Dec. 3, was delayed twice because Friedman was being treated for undisclosed psychiatric problems. Friedman never married.
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| THE
VICTIM |
Donald Vaden
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| Donald Vaden |
Vaden, a 19-year-old roofer, brought Beth Friedman home to meet his mother during the summer of 1997. Friedman, then 38, became fast friends with her 14-year-old student's mother, Grisel Vaden. In and out of trouble with the law, Donald Vaden admits that he had problem with authority and was failing at school when he met Friedman.
He smoked marijuana, stole cars and stayed out late, according to his own testimony. Vaden says his first sexual experience with Friedman came when he was 15 years old. An 18-month sexual relationship eventually turned into obsession, jealousy and began to consume Vaden's life, he testified.
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| THE PARENTS |
Grisel Vaden
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| Grisel Vaden |
Grisel Vaden refused to believe her son's comments that Friedman was performing oral sex on him. For one thing, Friedman was her best friend, a teacher and Grisel Vaden never witnessed anything other than horseplay. It was not until Donald Vaden, appearing upset, confided to his mother that he was "f****ing Beth" that Grisel Vaden believed that it could be happening. She and her ex-husband filed a complaint with police on June 13, 1999.
James Vaden
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| James Vaden |
James Vaden, Grisel Vaden's ex-husband, helped raised Donald Vaden since he was 2 but never adopted the boy. He considered Donald to be his son but felt he lacked standing to act on his suspicions because Donald lived with his mother. James Vaden testified that was the reason he did not insist that he and Grisel Vaden go to police when Donald told him the first time that Friedman had performed oral sex on him. Vaden made two anonymous phone calls about his suspicions about Friedman but they were not acted on.
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| THE WITNESSES |
Dorry Press
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| Dorry Press |
Beth Friedman's former neighbor, Dorry Press, says the defendant told her that she thought Donald Vaden was "hot" but that she would not sleep with him until he turned 18. Press suspected otherwise after she saw Friedman and Vaden hugging face-to-face in a swimming pool about 3 a.m. during the winter of 1999, when Vaden was 16. The defense says that testimony was never offered by Press before. A police detective testified that Press never told him that while he took her 17-page statement.
Steven Erb
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| Steven Erb |
Donald Vaden's best friend, Steven Erb, is expected to testify that he saw Friedman perform oral sex on Vaden in her car during a drive-in movie. The defense has made a lot of the fact that Grisel Vaden drove Erb to the police station to give his statement.
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| THE PROSECUTOR |
Stacey Honowitz
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| Stacey Honowitz
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Broward County prosecutor Stacey Honowitz, who specializes in crimes involving children, is trying to support Vaden's testimony with "where there is smoke there's fire" corroboration. Numerous witnesses have testified that Friedman and Vaden were in constant company in school and after school.
Honowitz, whose courtroom style is animated, often has to rephrase leading questions after defense objections. Early this year, Honowitz won a "Best of You" award from Glamour Magazine for using her best physical asset — her lips — to benefit others: the women and children she speaks for in court.
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| THE
DEFENSE LAWYER |
David Bogenschutz
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| David Bogenschutz |
Friedman's lawyer, David Bogenschutz, is mounting an "it never happened" defense. Every chance he gets, Bogenschutz reminds the jury that Donald Vaden had a reputation of being a liar, a thief, a bragger and a drug abuser. Bogenschutz has relied extensively on pre-trial depositions to show that the prosecution's witnesses have changed or altered their testimony. He alleges that the Vadens conspired to extort money from Friedman, who allegedly was showering Donald Vaden with gifts during their relationship. Bogenschutz's past clients included a judge accused of an ethics violation for using a machine that mimicked a flushing toilet to express displeasure in the courtroom. |
| THE
JUDGE |
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| Hon. Stanton Kaplan |
Hon. Stanton Kaplan
Broward County Circuit Judge Stanton Kaplan runs a tight ship. The graying, moustached jurist rules on motions and objections quickly and with authority. Kaplan, who makes small talk with jurors during the many breaks in the testimony, tends to allow the prosecution and defense to come up with compromises when dealing with sticky issues. Sometimes, he finds his solutions. In 1994, according to published reports, Kaplan ordered a man uttering profanities during his sentencing to be gagged with duct tape.
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