Alleged victim under fire in prep school rape trial

 
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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Dip into Colombia's messiest attraction

 Local legend says the site, about 45 minutes outside Cartagena, was once a real, active volcano until a quick-thinking priest intervened. Armed with holy water, the cleric tamed the fiery mount and transformed the molten lava into a soupy concoction of body-benefiting minerals.

Today, a sign at the base of the volcano prominently lists the mud's all-natural ingredients: calcium, magnesium and aluminum, among others. The implication is clear -- this isn't just regular dirt; this stuff is good for you.

As I sized up the crater before me, a man stained slate gray from his volcano attendant duties motioned for me to join him in the murky pool.

I initially thought the mud would be thick and dense. Instead of being sucked into a vat of thick slop, however, I was surprised to find myself floating effortlessly, somehow buoyed by the thin, silk-like sediment.

Once inside the volcano, the attendants slathered the messy stuff on every inch of our bodies. Cautiously leaning back, a guide dipped my head into the mud as if baptizing me into some clay worshipping cult. That was followed with a quick "massage" -- a one-minute or so prodding that was generally relaxing despite its inelegant execution.

As more people entered the pool, the attendants repositioned our floating bodies with ease, arranging us like competing oil tankers waiting to pass through a canal.

At about 15 feet in diameter, however, the volcano soon reached capacity. As I moved to climb the slippery ladder leading out of the pit, a girl let out a massive scream and frantically paddled away from my direction.
The author looks up from the mineral-rich mud. Somewhere, a frog is lurking nearby.
The author looks up from the mineral-rich mud. Somewhere, a frog is lurking nearby.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              "Frog!" she yelled, waving her arms as if dodging a venomous cobra.     The crowd followed her panicked lead, pushing toward the corner farthest from the amphibian.

Outside the volcano, the guide had told us that we would rinse off in the nearby river and, if needed, a group of local women would be there to help.

Walking with two female travelers I met on the morning bus ride, I made my way down the path to the river. At the end of the trail, a trio of women greeted us and guided the group into the water.

After a few minutes of furious scrubbing, the woman paused and looked down at me.

"Take off your shorts," she said to me in practiced English.

"What?" I asked.

"Shorts. Take them off."

Conscious of my newfound neighbors and the few feet of clear water that separated us, I politely refused, shaking my bottom half in the water to somehow convey that I was as clean as could be.

Confident in my physical communication skills, I stood and thanked the woman. As I began to step away though, she grabbed the top of my swim trunks and pulled them out and down.

I stood frozen as the woman smiled coyly and dished water onto my nether regions. Luckily, I was facing toward the riverbank and away from the two bathers I had met just an hour or so earlier.

After seeing for herself that no mud remained, the woman released my shorts, and the elastic band snapped back into place.

Thankfully, I didn't lose anything in the volcano, as the guide had initially warned.

But the river was another story. There, on a sandy beach in northern Colombia, a little bit of my modesty disappeared into the currents of the crystal clear water.

If you go ...

El Totumo is a relatively quick 45-minute bus ride from Cartagena's Old City.

The entrance fee and transportation to/from should run around $20 per person. Beware of overpriced operators looking to charge you anything more than that amount.

Your best bet is to arrange your visit through a local hostel such as El Viajero Hostel. You don't need to be a guest to take advantage of its budget-friendly prices. Expect to tip the locals $1 each for their services while visiting the volcano.


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Tata Motors: Cyrus Mistry says 'pained' for not paying dividend

With Tata Motors skipping a dividend payout for the first time in 15 years, Chairman Cyrus Mistry today said he is pained for not being able to give the "rightful dividend" to the investors, who questioned the reasons given by the company at its AGM here today. Mistry said, "My personal belief is that it's a bad day for the company. I feel extremely unfortunate this day. "Let me tell you it does not give me any pleasure to deny your rightful dividend. I know that many of you depend a lot on the dividend." "But I request you to look the finances of the company and also look for the long term. We have to make some sacrifices for the long-term good of our company. I am deeply pained by our decision to not pay the dividend for FY15," an emotional Mistry said. Tata Motors had last skipped a dividend payout in fiscal year 2000-01, when Ratan Tata was the chairman. This is also only the second instance in the company's history when it has not paid a dividend. (PTI)

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