Summary of the testimony of Kayla Smith

Sac City, Iowa - Under 25.2(3)b of the Code of Iowa, filming victim witness
testimony is not permitted without victim witness consent. As TSN was not able to
obtain that consent, following is a summary of alleged victim witness testimony
from Kayla Smith in the trial of Scott Carl Fister, Case FECR012629.
All people accused of crimes are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court
of law. The disposition of all cases are subject to change without notice.
Kayla Smith testified that she was born on May 30, 1990 in Sac City, Iowa, making
her 25 years old. She testified that in the summer of 2004 just after finishing 8th
grade she was 15 years old.
Smith indicated that the defendant Scott Fister is her uncle, and that he is about 50
years old.
She testified that her family and her uncle's family were very close; that they would
get together frequently for birthdays, weekend camping, television watching,
attending sporting events, holidays, to play cards, and to hunt and fish.
According to Smith, in 2014, the defendant resided in Lytton Iowa on the west side
of the town, the Sac County side.
On the summer of 2004 when she was 15, Kayla testified that she was at her
uncle's house on the couch with her uncle covered up with a blanket. She indicated
that he would pull the blanket over so that they were both under it. She indicated
that he would then touch her vagina with his fingers and toes underneath the
blanket, both under and over her clothing.
She went on to share that 10-15 instances of the similar events happened in 2004
and 2005. Smith indicated that more than half of the time, the rest of the family
was present in the room during these events.
Kayla indicated that as she got older and stayed overnight at her uncle's home, she
would sleep on the couch and sometimes wake up to find him spooning her.
According to smith, when she woke up he would begin to touch her breasts and
vagina. Smith indicated that on some occasions this lead to him performing oral
sex on her.
Smith then described an incident during a hunting trip in which there were 5 people
sleeping in a duck hunting boat. During the night, she alleged that her uncle would
arrange a blanket over the two of them, and touch her breasts and vagina.

The witness then shared a sequence of events that took place on a deer hunting
trip. On this trip she alleges that her uncle would rub her vagina over her clothes
and place her hand on his penis over his clothes. She testified that he said that he
enjoyed it when she rubbed his penis. Smith testified that there are 5 or 6 deer
hunting trips in which events similar to this happened.
According to Smith, her Fister told her that they should keep these events secret
and that it was their special time together. She testified that she did not tell anyone
because she was afraid that if she wasn't the target, then he might target
somebody else. She indicated that she was concerned that if she told anyone, their
families would no longer be close, and that Fister's relationship with his children
may suffer.
Smith testified that in total, Fister touched her vagina 50 or more times. She
described an incident in which she came home from college she got a flat tire. She
called her uncle to come help her fix the tire. At this point, Fister's lawyer objected,
saying that it was outside of the scope of the charges.
Outside of the presence of the jury, the prosecution argued the merits of using the
event to demonstrate the defendant's propensity for the alleged victim, and that
this type of testimony is routinely allowed. After a brief recess, the objection was
overruled.
Ms. Smith continued....
After the tire blew Smith alleged that they got into her vehicle to talk. After talking
for a while, she alleges that her uncle attempted to kiss her and indicated that he
missed her.
Smith testified that at age 24 she shared, first with her mother, and then with law
enforcement, the events previously described in this summary..
Smith then identified the defendant as the person about whom she was testifying.
On cross examination, Charles Schulte asked more questions about the events of
2004 and 2005, verifying that there were many people in the room and that the
alleged victim and the defendant interacted with them. Kayla testified under cross
that she was having a bad year at softball, and that she would go to her uncle's
house with her family to have fun and forget about her softball troubles.
Schulte read a portion of a deposition in which Smith indicated that she was
possibly 16 years old during the events at her uncle's home. The prosecution
objected saying that the defense was mischaracterizing her deposition testimony in
an attempt to make her look like she was changing her mind about what age she
was when the events took place. The objection was overruled.

When asked why she didn't physically separate from the defendant on those
occasions when he allegedly sexually abused her, she indicated that there was no
other place to sit in the room.
Schulte than reviewed the events in the duck hunting boat. According to Smith, the
family would be dressed in blue jeans and sweatshirts and be fairly covered up due
to the cold of the fall.
Schulte than reviewed the events of the deer hunting events. According to smith,
the deer hunting took place in December and that it was cold. She alleged that on
these occasions they would get into the truck and remove some of their clothing in
order to give them better access.
At this point, under cross examination, Schulte began to touch on the incident with
the flat tire. When Sculte asked if the witness remembered sharing that she had a
fianc, the prosecution objected on the grounds that it was decided prior to the
trial that this is a topic that would not be talked about during the trial.
After sending the jury out of the court, Schulte indicated that the family has a
theory that the victim is distraught about a failed engagement to a gentleman who
resembles the defendant, is the father of her child, and is on the sex offender
registry.
The judge ruled that the defense could not talk about Smith's failed engagement
and ordered the jury back into the room.
Continuing, Schulte ended his line of questioning by having Ms. Smith verify that
the defendant did not penetrate the her with his penis.
County Attorney Ben Smith guided the alleged victim back through the highlights of
the alleged sexual abuse before excusing the witness.
After a lengthy admonition to the jury to avoid all types of media and discussions
about the case with loved ones and friends, Judge Kurt Stoebe declared the court in
recess until July 22 at 9:00am.