The trial of an ex-banker accused of raping an Irish student has heard the testimony of her friend, who says she found her in a distressed state after the alleged attack looking “shaken” and “scared”.
Jason Lee (38) a former Goldman Sachs banker, faces 25 years if convicted. Mr Lee has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree rape, sexual misconduct and third-degree assault. He claims they had consensual sex and has waived his right to a jury trial.
The friend, who had spent the summer with her on a J-1 working visa in another US state, described searching the holiday home in the Hamptons near New York in the early hours of August 20th, 2013, when she realised the woman was missing.
She said that it took only a few minutes to find her.
“I remember her coming towards me from a doorway,” she said. “And I could see her face and she looked visibly upset.”
Kimberly Shalvey, for the prosecution, asked her to describe how her friend looked.
“She looked shaken. She looked scared,” she said. “There were tears in her eyes and her eyes were bloodshot.”
The police were called by Mr Lee's friend, Rene Duncan, who believed his car was stolen. When officers arrived the alleged victim's brother told them what he believed had happened to his sister, who was then taken to a police car.
A few minutes later, the friend, who travelled from Ireland, got into the car too.
“I asked her what happened,” she said.
“Did [she] tell you what happened,” asked Miss Shalvey.
“We just cried,” said the witness, who added that she then left the car. “I walked over to Rene and told him that his friend was going to be in a lot of trouble.”
Prosecutors say Mr Lee assaulted and raped the 20-year-old woman after following her naked into a downstairs bathroom of the rented holiday home.
He and Mr Duncan, had met the woman, her brother and friends at a nightclub in East Hampton, a holiday destination popular with wealthy New Yorkers.
They then returned to the $33,000-a-month holiday home Mr Lee was renting.
The court has already heard how police were called when Mr Duncan believed his car had been stolen but were then told of the alleged attack by the victim’s brother.
The prosecution alleges that Mr Lee tried to flee the scene by telephoning for a taxi while hiding in the vehicle.
Defence lawyers do not deny that Mr Lee and the woman had sex, but maintain the encounter was consensual.
The Irish woman was living and working in the US for the summer under the temporary J-1 visa programme.
Her friend said they had arrived in the town of Montauk, at the very tip of Long Island, a day earlier, to visit the woman’s brother.
On the second night, they went out to a bar, the Surf Club, before going on to a nightclub, Georgica. It was there, she said, that they met Mr Lee and his friend.
“Everyone was enjoying themselves,” she said. “Everyone was on good form.”
Later that night they left for Mr Lee’s house, where she and her friend stripped to their underwear and jumped into the swimming pool.
“Jason was there too,” she said. “He got into the pool. He was walking around and had no clothes on him.”
She jumped in and out of the pool several times and disappeared into the house to get a towel, before dressing again. Her friend wrapped herself in a towel.
The witness later admitted under cross-examination the alleged victim had gone upstairs inside the house with Mr Lee and others, and dressed in a white T-shirt and blue shorts.
Mr Lee took notes throughout her testimony.
Earlier the prosecution told the court that the alleged victim and her friend had been followed to their hotel by a car which was registered to a private detective.
Andrew Lankler, who is defending Mr Lee, said "emphatically" and "unequivocally" that the defence had not hired anyone to tail the witnesses.
“We have no involvement in this at all,” he said, adding that it might be the work of journalists.
Justice Barbara Kahn, sitting at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, Long Island, reminded the parties that a protection order was already in place to prevent the defence contacting the alleged victim.
Mr Lee is free on $100,000 bail and has been accompanied by his wife every day.
The case continues.