Owen Labrie Found Not Guilty of Felony Sexual Assault in Prep School Trial

[Purveyor]

Source: ABC News

Aug 28, 2015, 1:57 PM ET
By EMILY SHAPIRO



Owen Labrie was found not guilty of felony sexual assault in a case at St. Paul's School, a prestigious New Hampshire prep school.

The jury of nine men and three women delivered a not guilty verdict on the felony sexual assault charge on the second day of deliberations. He was found guilty of four misdemeanors for sexual assault and one felony related to a computer charge.

Labrie, now 19, was accused of raping a fellow student in May 2014 at the school in Concord, New Hampshire. He was charged with multiple felonies relating to the encounter and had entered a not-guilty plea.

The alleged victim, whose name is being withheld because of the nature of the crime, testified last week. "I was raped!" she said loudly amid tears. "I was violated in so many ways."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/prep-school-rape-trial-jury-reaches-verdict-owen/story?id=33381054

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Based on the evidence I heard, I could not have found him guilty either...

[TDale313]

1. Guilty on four misdemeanors and a felony computer charge.

Hoping for a long sentence on the other charges, but we'll see. And yeah, I think what happened to this girl was rape.

[Fred Sanders]

2. Why is that not the headline?? Strange way to report guilty verdicts on 4 sexual crimes!

And one FELONY computer related crime!!??

I find ABC and the news aggregators guilty of felony crimes of misinformation.

[TexasBushwhacker]

24. I've seen the headline the other way

But only on Jezebel. But even though he was only found guilty of misdeamenors, he still gas to register as a sex offender and he will most likely still do time.

[Polly Hennessey]

3. I agree.

Based on what I heard I would not have delivered a guilty verdict.

[BdAzzSRT]

5. Lots of conflicting evdence

Based on what I've read, the rape charge was not proven.

However, I'm glad he was convicted of something...

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. Guilty on 5 of 9 charges, but the headline he gets is 'not guilty' on one specific charge.

Last edited Fri Aug 28, 2015, 04:02 PM - Edit history (1)

The 'senior salute' sounds like a tradition at that 'prestigious' prep school that needs to end.

But hey, women lie, right? That's why he gets off on the felony charges. Because by default, he's more believable than she is.

I suppose by avoiding the felony sex charges, he gets to avoid being a registered sexual predator, or only has to be listed for some relatively short period. (Edit: Ah, apparently not - the computer felony charge WILL get him to have to register.)

[BlueEye]

7. He could get up to 11 years in prison.

Based on the maximum penalty for all five convictions, including the felony "online seduction of a minor" conviction.

In her testimony, the victim admitted that she consented to the meeting, and also to "kissing", but nothing else. Even more significantly, a 'close' female friend of the victim testified that the victim told her she was willing to engage in sexual activity with the defendant, albeit not intercourse (not sure how that isn't hearsay, but it was admitted). Under the circumstances (the ostensibly well-known 'senior salute'), those testimonies created substantial reasonable doubt that the sexual activity fully met the definition of rape, hence the verdict. I actually think the jury found correctly on those counts. Reasonable doubt = acquittal

And likewise, I'm happy he was convicted on the other charges, which seemed like a no-brainer. He knew what he was doing was wrong. But it's impossible to say for sure that she did not consent. Another female witness basically indicted her. Was she lying?

Good article here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/28/us-usa-crime-new-hampshire-idUSKCN0QX26R20150828

[Blue_Tires]

6. ugh...if there was ever someone who "looked the part"

[Chemisse]

8. I think the jury did a good job.

He said they didn't have sex. She said they did and that she didn't want it. I didn't hear anything about any physical evidence (sperm, injuries, etc).

Text messages didn't back up her story; friends' testimony didn't back up his.

It seems like they are about even, which means there is reasonable doubt on the rape charges. They found him guilty on the charges for which there was direct evidence, as far as i can tell.

So I think they did a pretty good job, and it looks like both sides are claiming a victory of some sort.

[markpkessinger]

10. According to the NY Times . . .

. . . the jury rejected his claim that they didn't have sex. The question arose over whether or not it was consensual:

And after several hours of deliberations over two days, the jury appeared to reject Mr. Labrie’s insistence that he did not penetrate the girl in any way, but found that the state had not proved that what happened was against the girl’s expressed wishes.

The nine men and three women rejected the more serious accusations of aggravated sexual assault but convicted Mr. Labrie of three misdemeanors related to the girl’s age and involving penetration with his penis, mouth and finger.

See http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/29/us/st-pauls-school-rape-trial-owen-labrie.html

[Chemisse]

11. That makes sense to me.

Any jury would have a tough time believing that the young man stopped in the middle of a sexual interlude, for some vague reason that did not involve the girl saying no.

The real question they had to grapple with, was if he had intercourse with her while knowing it was against her will.

[markpkessinger]

12. I found this paragraph from the Times article to be rather disturbing . . .

But missing from the trial, experts said, was a broad discussion about the meaning of consent. The jury did not hear testimony about the definition of consent or about how rape victims, especially those suffering from rape trauma syndrome, typically behave: a government witness prepared to speak on those matters was stricken from the list after a motion by the defense.

[Chemisse]

13. That could have been a game changer if it explained her rather odd behavior afterwards.

I wonder what the argument was to have it stricken.

[840high]

14. ...+1

[LiberalElite]

15. There was some evidence of his DNA

on her underwear. Otherwise the lab results were inconclusive.

[Chemisse]

19. I didn't realize that.

That certainly explains why they found him guilty of statutory rape.

[forest444]

9. Another one for the Affluenza diaries.

By next year, there'll be enough material in those for another Hollywood series.

[LiberalElite]

16. Actually he isn't from a rich family FWIW

and, I too am glad he didn't get off scot free.

[forest444]

17. I'm glad too - although absent his social status, this would have almost certainly been a felony.

From the article:

The 159-year-old boarding school has long been a training ground for politicians, Nobel laureates, corporate executives and other members of the country’s elite. Alumni include Secretary of State John Kerry. Students pay $53,810 a year in tuition, room and board.

Please don't misunderstand. If I had means like those, I'd want to spend $53,810 a year in my kid's education too; it's a tough world, and if I could give my kid that kind of edge I certainly would (luckily I have none). But it shouldn't make the difference between a felony rape conviction, and a wrist-slap misdemeanor.

[Chemisse]

20. Reportedly, he is not from a rich family.

And attended the school on scholarship.

[cali]

21. St. Paul's, Andover, Choate, in fact all the elite prep schools have large numbers

of full ride scholarships. The all have endowments that put most colleges to shame.

[olddots]

18. I think the vibe of the school is rape culture

a problem that doesn't go away till people get educated about what rape is about .The status quo in these preppy schools and collages remains repukian .

[cali]

22. no it doesn't.

[question everything]

23. But will still may serve time in jail and be registered as a sex offender for life (nt)