Ex-banker found not guilty in Hamptons rape case

A judge found a former Goldman Sachs executive not guilty of raping a woman in his East Hampton summer rental home in 2013. Jason Lee was acquitted on rape and assault charges after a three-week non-jury

News 12 Staff

Apr 30, 2015, 1:44 AM

Updated 3,284 days ago

Share:

Ex-banker found not guilty in Hamptons rape case
A judge found a former Goldman Sachs executive not guilty of raping a woman in his East Hampton summer rental home in 2013.
Jason Lee was acquitted on rape and assault charges after a three-week non-jury trial.
As News 12 has reported, Lee was out with a friend celebrating his 37th birthday when he invited a then 20-year-old Irish tourist, her brother and some friends back to his rental house on Tony Clover Leaf Lane.
At the home, the group continued to drink and swim in the pool until the early morning hours. Prosecutors argued that Lee barged into the bathroom while the woman was changing and raped her.
A nurse testified that bruises she found on the woman were consistent with the story she told. Lee's attorney, however, always argued that the sex was consensual and that no one in the house ever heard any screams or commotion.
It took Judge Barbara Kahn less than 24 hours to reach her decision. She would not say specifically how she came to her verdict, but she did say she was deprived of hearing from a "very important witness," referring to the woman's brother.
Prosecutors said they did all they could to convince her brother to testify, because subpoenas hold no weight outside of New York state. The victim and one of her friends did travel from Ireland to testify against Lee.
Suffolk District Attorney Tom Spota says the brother, who lives in and attends college in Ireland, couldn't get away to testify.


More from News 12