A rape trial linked to an unsettling ritual at an exclusive New England prep school marched grimly into its third day Thursday, and the teen accuser faced intense scrutiny from the lawyer representing the teen defendant.
Defense lawyer J.W. Carney concluded his cross-examination of the alleged victim, who was a 15-year-old freshman in May 2014 when she says fellow student Owen Labrie raped her in a secluded room on the sprawling, 2,000-acre campus of St. Paul School in Concord, N.H.
Labrie, now 19, was an 18-year-old, Harvard-bound senior within days of graduation. Both teens have acknowledged their encounter was linked to "senior salute," apparently a school tradition involving seniors "scoring" some type of sex-related conquests from younger students. Labrie told police the two did not have sex.
The girl, now 16, testified that Labrie began kissing her roughly and that over her objections the encounter regressed into forcible rape. She testified she felt "powerless" and "frozen" when Labrie became aggressive — and that she initially blamed herself for not fighting back. She admitted to nervously laughing during the encounter.
"I wanted to be easygoing,” she testified, boston.com reports. “I wanted to not cause a conflict. I didn’t want to come off as bitchy. … I didn’t want to cause any trouble.”
The cross-examination also focused on the girl's actions in the hours and days before and after the alleged assault. She denied having told a friend before the encounter that she might have oral sex with Labrie. She did admit that after the encounter she had told a nurse and others that the sex was consensual.
“I thought it was so much easier to say it was (consensual) at that point," she said.
She also dismissed seemingly agreeable texts she sent after the encounter, saying she did not want to be "dramatic." She added that her sister was graduating and that she did not want to distract attention away from her.
She said she reported the encounter as a rape after seeing an undisclosed Facebook post a few days after the encounter.
Shan Wu, former federal prosecutor whose private practice focuses in part on student defense matters, has been following the trial and says he was not surprised by Carney's tough cross examination.
"Even if he (Carney) goes with consent, his client still gets convicted because she’s underage,” Wu told USA TODAY. “He has no choice but to go after her.”
Wu noted that Carney ran the risk of creating sympathy for the alleged victim. But he said a lawyer can combat that in his closing argument, saying "look, if I was rough on her, don't hold that against my client."
Labrie, who faces three counts of aggravated sexual assault and other charges, told police they kissed and that the girl pressed him for more — but that he ultimately declined. Carney said he expects Labrie, who didn't enroll at Harvard, will testify.
The case is shining a spotlight on the school's "senior salute" ritual as well as the 159-year-old school itself. After opening statements Tuesday, jurors visited the campus at St. Paul's, which counts three Pulitzer-prize winners and Secretary of State John Kerry among its alums. The school has about 500 students whose families pay more than $50,000 per year in tuition, room and board.
The school's rector, Michael Hirschfeld, posted a statement on the school website earlier this week saying the "allegations about our culture are not emblematic of our school or our values, our rules, or the people that represent our student body, alumni, faculty, and staff." Hirschfeld said the school would emerge "stronger, united, and committed, as always, to ensuring our students' safety and well being."
Wu said it was crucial that the school be proactive in ending "senior salute." Colleges and universities are very sensitive to sex crimes, and he noted that St. Paul's is a "feeder" for the Ivy League and other elite colleges.
"If there is any hint of this type of attitude toward young woman, they need to change it right now. Say right away ‘this is not our culture," Wu said. “They need to tell the world that this is abhorrent to us and we won’t put up with it."
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