St. Paul’s Trial: Alleged Victim Pushes Back Against Aggresive Cross Examination

By Paige Sutherland
New Hampshire Public Radio
August 20, 2015

http://nhpr.org/post/st-paul-s-trial-alleged-victim-pushes-back-against-aggresive-cross-examination

Owen Labrie, 19, appears in the Merrimack County Superior Court on Thursday.

In day three of the St. Paul’s rape trial in Concord, the alleged victim pushed back against the defense’s aggressive questioning. 

The 16-year-old former freshman at the elite prep school was on the stand for more than 8 hours before being dismissed at around 11 a.m.

When J.W. Carney, a high profile defense lawyer who represented mobster Whitey Bulger, asked the alleged victim about her interview with Concord Police last June, the accuser repeatedly asked to see the transcript before answering.

She also made sure Carney read the entire script including all the "umms and likes." When she repeatedly told Carney to rephrase the question or tried to elaborate on answers, Carney raised his voice and ordered the judge to have her answer his questions with a yes or no. But the judge said she had a right to explain herself.

And when pushed on why she was dazed after the alleged incident with then senior Owen Labrie – she broke down.

“Were you already being cloudy and confused the day before you got together with Owen," Carney asked. "No," she replied. "Why were you cloudy?," Carney asked her. " I was raped. I was violated in so many ways, of course I was traumatized I’m sorry,” she said through tears.

After she left the stand in tears, she told the family spokeswoman, that "she wasn't a victim but a survivor."

Mary Marzelli, a nurse at St. Paul’s School, was the next person to take the stand, telling the jury that when the alleged victim came into her office and asked for Plan B, better known as the morning after pill, the accuser seemed anxious and teary eyed. 

When the defense asked whether the accuser told the nurse that it wasn't consensual or that she felt threatened or coerced, she answered, "no."

The victim's mother, who also took the stand, told the jury that her daughter didn't tell her about the alleged assault until four days later. She described how when her daughter finally called her late at night to tell her what had happened, she was hysterical. She told the jury that the next day she returned to campus and took her daughter to the Concord Hospital for a rape kit. And when her daughter led the police to the scene of the incident, her daughter broke down and collapsed. 

Around 11:30 a.m. the alleged victim's best friend's at St. Paul's took the stand. She was one of the first people the accuser told about the incident.