Prep School Rape

“We know that Harvard said he was not enrolled as of the fall he was supposed to matriculate. Do we know if he may be allowed to enroll there at a later date? What other colleges would take him?”

I’ve worked with a number of students who have been accused of sexual assault. Even if he is acquitted on all charges, I’d be flabbergasted if Harvard un-rescinded. They don’t have to follow the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard, and there’s plenty of evidence that he did something bad here.

If he is acquitted on everything, or convicted only of misdemeanors and gets light punishment, and he has good guidance with his applications, other schools will take him. Probably not Ivies, but good public flagships or less elite privates. He is a stellar student, and that matters when schools are weighing whether to take a chance on someone. His activities during the gap year, besides working on his defense, also matter.

If he is convicted of a felony/goes to jail/has to register as a sex offender, he won’t have a lot of options. I would advise a student in that position to pursue online education if the local community college will not take him (some will take ex-cons, some won’t).

Someone asked upthread why community members might support one student over another and donate to legal bills. They do it because they know a student well and believe his or her side of the story. (Of course, that does not mean that they are always right about the student’s character, but that’s how it happens.) I currently have a client “Joe” whose best friend “Tom”'s parents are the ones who sought me out and hired me. The kids grew up together, and both pairs of parents love both kids. Joe’s parents authorized the work, but Tom’s parents have more money and resources and are eager to use them to help Joe following the accusation against him.

Rape cases are notoriously hard to prove. 20-something years ago I was on a jury hearing an aggravated rape case. A teenaged girl left a party to go to the store with two guys her age whom she knew. When they returned she was dumped from the car sobbing and immediately reported to her friends that she had been raped by both men. She went to the hospital and had a rape kit done which confirmed the presence of the men’s semen as well as extensive bruising on her inner thighs and wrist bruising consistent with being held down.

And yet the jury wouldn’t convict.

The issue in her case was that despite the fact that she denied drinking anything other than soda she reported passing out and waking up with one of the men on top of her. Many of the jurors questioned her story, citing the improbability of passing out and not waking up until her pants were off and things were underway. Two jurors also said that in the small car the men could not have had sex with her “unless she helped.”

I couldn’t find an explanation for her loss of consciousness but every other piece of the puzzle told me she’d been raped. In the end I was the lone holdout for conviction. I knew the men would walk and that it was highly unlikely they’d be retried even if I hung the jury. Everyone was irritated that I wouldn’t just go with the majority opinion but I just couldn’t send the girl the message that no one believed her.

3 months later I heard my first story on roofs and things fell into place. The look on that girl’s face as she testified still haunts me.

Someone upthread wanted to know where “laceration” came into the story. It was mentioned in the Sept 3, 2014 article in The Crimson, soon after the arrest.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/9/3/owen-labrie-sexual-assault/

“A forensic examination on June 3 by a sexual assault nurse examiner found “a laceration that would be consistent with penetration having occurred,” according to the affidavit.”

Of course the defense will make the argument. Right now, there is a lot of evidence they had sex. If the defendant doesn’t create any reasonable doubt about that fact, he’'ll be found guilty of misdemeanor sexual assault. A misdemeanor, of course, but still, a conviction with the possibility of jail time.

http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/sex-crimes/new-hampshire-sexual-battery-laws.htm

Plus, Carney already told the jury in his opening that there was no sex. One of the worst mistakes a lawyer can make is to tell the jury his side will prove something and then put in no evidence to prove it.

Carney managed to get Whitey Bulger convicted of 31 of the 32 charges he was tried for after a very long trial. He probably wouldn’t be my choice if I wanted to be found not guilty.

@midwestdad3 - “@prospect1 I don’t think the defense will make the argument that the defendant and victim did not have sex because, as you say, it is ridiculous.” But hasn’t the defense said just that? That sexual intercourse did not occur? That he did not insert his penis into her? Labrie gave a statement to police last year that they did not have sex. I saw a video clip of the defense attorney stating that they did not have sex although the defense admits to other activities. Carney called it dry humping. I can’t remember where I saw the video but this Boston.com piece quotes Carney’s comments from his opening statement: http://www.boston.com/news/local/new-hampshire/2015/08/18/paul-prep-school-rape-trial-begins-victim-set-testify/Mh98ggSuTemgh79JFCT4AP/story.html

"Besides that, they didn’t have penetrative sex, Carney said. Labrie stopped and they both agreed to leave, Carney said.

“The evidence will show that they never did have sex,” Carney said. “There was a lot of dry humping, no question about that.”"

Also, what is the legal definition of penetration? Just with his penis? Or would fingers count, too?

Regarding others funding his defense, I wonder if these funders knew at the time all the details that have come out before and during the trial? It could be plausible that they were not privy to all the info currently public and might have regrets now. Some kids have that “Eddie Haskell” quality to them - smart, articulate, knows how to talk to adults. I’m sure many faculty at the school who admired his academic abilities and the persona he gave off to them were shocked to hear details of his contest and to discover that he was not the person they thought him to be. Most of us have had a least one instance of this in our lifetime - a coworker, a neighbor, a family member or friend that appeared upstanding and “normal” and then something happens where you find out about some skeletons or that they do not have the character you thought they did.

edit: I guess the P word isn’t allowed on CC.

Carney should have chosen his words more carefully. What a vulgar description to utter in an open courtroom.

“It could be plausible that they were not privy to all the info currently public and might have regrets now. Some kids have that “Eddie Haskell” quality to them - smart, articulate, knows how to talk to adults”

Sure, it’s possible. Another famous fictional example is Tom Riddle – a couple of teachers at Hogwarts lived to regret the opportunities they gave him. That said, I find that people who’ve helped raise a kid, including as teachers or mentors, tend to stay on that kid’s side even if the kid makes awful choices. We just keep remembering the good in those kids and believing the goodness is at the core. We’re wired to keep that unbreakable allegiance to our own kids, and we do it for other kids we love.

It’s a nuance, but if it were my defense case, I would NOT argue in closing that they did not have sex. The jury will perceive that as a ridiculous lie, and the defense attorney’s credibility goes out the window if he is perceived as willing to lie for his client.

The victim has lied. She told the hospital immediately afterward it was a consentual. She is telling the jury it was not. There may be very good, plausible reasons for her lie, but either way one or the other statement is not true. She has demonstrated that her memory was faulty (I dont remember telling my friends that I planned to have oral sex with him). I’m not castigating the defendant in any way, I’m just saying the testimony is what it is.

Closing arguments focus solely on the evidence that has been presented, and the inferences that can be drawn from that evidence. A prosecutor is not permitted to point out that a defendant has failed to testify. So what does a criminal defense attorney do with this evidence? You hammer away at the inconsistencies, repeatedly. You put up charts to show the inconsistencies. At most he is likely to say, “None of us were there that night. The victim isn’t even sure what happened. And yes, some of us at age 15 have done things that we regretted immediately afterwards.” The prosecutor will say “the defendant concocted an elaborate plan to rape the victim, he enlisted his friends, he led her upstairs and she was raped by the defendant, she acted in a way that was consistent with how rape victims act (objection from the defense to this), she suffered injuries that show she was assaulted, and you should return a verdict of guilty on all counts.”

And then the jury has to sort it all out. Beyond a reasonable doubt.

I think it is difficult to get beyond reasonable doubt in these cases.

@Consolation,
One witness is expected to testify about Labrie’s sexually aggressive behavior on a date - See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20150515/NEWS03/150519426/-1/mobile#sthash.TTe8MK88.dpuf

NH Union Leader article 5/14/15

When the testimony is that he was sexually aggressive but he did not have sex with the young lady testifying does that hurt or help either side?
He admits to sexual activity but claims to have stopped at a point. Does being sexually aggressive but ultimately not having intercourse indicate he is or is not someone who forces sexual intercourse?

@Hanna, do we know for certain Harvard rescinded Labrie’s admission? I was under the impression he may have voluntarily withdrawn or requested a gap year after the arrest.

I would think the difference could be germane to his future plans if he’s acquitted and attempts to apply to other competitive schools.

^^^^ interesting point @luciethelakie. That would explain why he rejected a plea (some here have said that he was offered a plea but rejected it through prior counsel). If his Harvard admission hinges on a not guilty verdict, then it’s worth it to him to try to go for the whole enchilada. He doesn’t have much to lose.

On the other hand, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some reporting that Harvard unconditionally pulled its offer, but maybe I’m just thinking of speculation I’ve read here.

@jonri, I edited my post to reflect that I realized what I wasn’t “getting.” I was reading it that if one of the two involved was 4 years older or MORE, then it was statutory rape, which would mean that at only 3 years older, he was protected. When I re-read the statute, I realized that’s not at all what it says.

Other than the emotional impact on the jury, whether or not the defendant actually had sex with the complainant may be immaterial.

According to HN statute “sexual penetration” includes

Both the nurse’s testimony and the girl’s strongly indicate that there was sexual penetration regardless of the body part used.

“do we know for certain Harvard rescinded Labrie’s admission?”

I don’t think we know for certain, but I don’t think it matters. I don’t believe Harvard will let him enroll after this, even if he technically took a gap year. For the record, I have no inside info, and I’m just going on my experience with other accused kids.

Thanks, @GnocchiB. (I actually have a subscription to the Valley News, but it hasn’t been functioning for a little while. :slight_smile: Have to call them.)

Another question I have and I wonder if anyone can shed light on it: there was mention of semen on her underwear, but that it could not be linked to Labrie. Why would that be? Surely, since he is a defendant in a rape, they can demand a DNA sample from him. Could they mean that they have tested it, and it is not his? This seems like a very important point to me.

I lived in Texas until recently and had a very similar ugly story take place between 2 kids on my street. It did make brief national headlines because the accused was over 18 (senior), very good-looking and lost a full-ride baseball scholarship to Duke because of the accusation. The victim was a sophomore and both had been drinking. It appears to have begun as a consensual encounter that eventually, the victim attempted unsuccessfully to stop. She went home, told her mom and was taken to a local emergency room for a rape exam, where she was diagnosed with lacerations that indicated penetration. I knew both kids, both parents and it was really terrible for the two families. The girl (who was sweet, smart and cute) was hounded so badly at their school for “ruining” the boy’s life with her accusation that she had to change schools. The grand jury no-billed the case (didn’t feel there was enough evidence to proceed with an indictment), so the victim got no justice whatsoever. The boy had to be homeschooled the rest of senior year, lost his college scholarship, had to lay very low at a community college for 2 years and only recently was accepted to Baylor University in Waco (I’m sure only because charges were dropped due to the no-bill). No one will ever no what took place but the people involved but in both this case and Labrie’s, the victim’s parents responded in the right way to seek justice for their daughters. In the end, the victim in the Texas case lost almost as much as her alleged attacker. I have a bad feeling that the Labrie case will go the same way, due to the victim’s waffling statements and texts. I remember my husband saying as we watched the boy’s parents doing some yard work during the whole ordeal (which was a huge local news story) “they literally look gray and defeated, as if he had died.” These cases just rip apart everyone involved.

I’m going to be a little graphic here, so apologies in advance.

It is increasingly sounding to me as if the “laceration” was caused by a finger breaking the hymen or by a fingernail, and that he stopped short of penetrating her with the body part that will be starred out if I type it. The “redness” is consistent with the aforementioned “dry humping.” This scenario is actually consistent with both of their stories, if you accept that he thinks or thought that fingers don’t “count.” Unfortunately for him, according to the statute quoted by @Sue22, they do count. On the other hand, her friend says that she said in advance that she was prepared for “fingering.” Of course we know that if she changed her mind when confronted with the reality he had to stop, but it could cast some doubt in the consent issue for jurors. On the other hand, if he had had sexual assault training, it might be possible to point out that the training made it clear that fingers or objects DO count, so he must have known.