The prosecution has rested its case against Owen Labrie, the 19-year-old former student of St. Paul’s School accused of raping a 15-year-old fellow student days before he graduated.
The trial has scrutinized the sexual culture at the prestigious prep school in Concord, New Hampshire.
Prosecutors have argued that the so-called “Senior Salute,” in which male and female upperclassmen attempt to hook up with younger students before graduating, helped create conditions for the girl’s alleged rape on campus.
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Labrie, who was charged on nine counts, has maintained that a “divine intervention” stopped him from going all the way during his Senior Salute with the accuser.
But on the fifth day of the high-profile trial, the defense team’s stubborn insistence that Labrie didn’t have sex with the now 16-year-old girl appears to have weakened his case.
The court has now seen considerable evidence, both physical and in witness testimonies, that Labrie and his accuser did in fact have sex.
On Tuesday a criminologist testified that evidence of Labrie’s DNA had been found in the girl’s underwear, though no sperm.
But a separate test found “a strong indication of the presence of semen” in her underwear. An internal examination did not yield any links to Labrie’s DNA.
On Monday, several current and former St. Paul’s students testified that Labrie told them he’d had sex with the girl.
They said Labrie gave no indication that the sex wasn’t consensual, and all agreed that students frequently exaggerate their sexual escapades when discussing them with peers.
Reporting on Monday’s proceedings, The Boston Globe cited witness evidence from Andrew Thomson, Labrie’s former roommate at the elite prep school; Tucker Marchese, Malcolm Solovaara, and Henry Kremer, three other former students who were friends with Labrie; and a current St. Paul’s student who said he helped facilitate the Senior Salute between Labrie and the girl.
Thomson testified that he spoke to Labrie on the night of the alleged assault, and that he seemed “a little taken aback, but overall happy” after the encounter.
Prosecutors showed Facebook messages in May 2014 between Labrie and another friend, Tucker Marchese, who pressed for details about Labrie’s Senior Salute: “How’d it go from no to bone?” Labrie replied: “Just pulled every trick in the book.”
Malcolm Solovaara, another former student, testified that Labrie told him he’d “hooked up” with the girl, but that they hadn’t had sex.
But Solovaara had previously told investigators the opposite, and the judge reportedly told jurors that they could use this evidence to assess his credibility.
Henry Kremer, who played soccer with Labrie at St. Paul’s, testified that Labrie told him at graduation that he’d had sex with the girl.
The court has so far heard testimony from 16 witnesses, including the accuser, her best friend, her mother, two nurses, a doctor, and the dean of students.
Last Thursday saw what the media has characterized as a brutal cross-examination of the accuser by Labrie’s defense lawyer, J.W. Carney, who has also defended Whitey Bulger.
The girl remained poised for much of it, as Carney read aloud friendly messages she had exchanged with Labrie before and after the encounter.
He also emphasized details of their encounter, like the fact that she had held her arms up “so that it would be easier for Owen to take your shirt off.” She responded that she did so because she “didn’t want to be offensive.”
As the cross-examination grew more intense, she cried out that she “was raped” and “violated in so many ways.”
She was in tears by the end and, according to The New York Times, turned to the prosecution and sobbed, “I’m sorry.”
On Wednesday, she described the sex acts he had performed during their encounter, claiming that he spit on her, called her a tease, groped, and bit her. “At one point, I was in so much pain that I jerked backwards,” she said.
She also said she’d sought the morning after pill from the school nurse, and that when asked if their sex was consensual, she’d answered yes. (The nurse confirmed this in her own testimony.)
“It was so much easier,” the accuser told the court, explaining that she was in a rush to save seats for her sister’s graduation when she went to the nurse’s office. She felt “powerless” about the whole situation and didn’t want to be “dramatic” about what had happened.
A hospital nurse who examined the girl two days after their encounter, administering the rape kit, testified that the girl had redness in her vagina that could be consistent with an assault, but could also be the result of non-sexual irritation.
By the end of last week, the court had seen minimal evidence beyond the accuser’s testimony (as well as that of her mother and friend) that her encounter with Labrie was not consensual.
But this week’s testimonies have severely undercut Labrie’s case.
Concord Police Detective Julie Curtin, who first interrogated Labrie, said authorities were able to access more than 100 messages he had deleted from his Facebook account, which might suggest he had something to hide.
She also said that he denied having sex with the girl and at one point said that admitting to having intercourse “would be the end of my life.”
Curtin testified that Labrie had appeared defensive and arrogant, asking her, “Do you know anything about me?”
She said he attempted to distract from the conversation by listing his accomplishments at school. He even sent her his college essay after the interview, as if to prove that he was a good, innocent kid.
When she asked why he put a condom on, if not to have sex with the girl, he replied that he thought it “would be more of a tease.”
Testimonies from Labrie’s friends and the DNA found on her underwear are further indications that, despite what the defense has maintained, Labrie did have sex with the accuser. If he pleaded guilty to statutory rape, a misdemeanor in New Hampshire, he would still have a strong argument to fight the five remaining charges.
He is expected to testify Wednesday when the trial resumes.
