Closing arguments due in rape trial of former Goldman banker

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[April 28, 2015]  By Edward Krudy
 
 NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York judge is set to hear closing arguments on Tuesday in the trial of a former Goldman Sachs banker accused of raping an Irish student on Long Island in the summer of 2013.

Jason Lee, a former managing director, is accused of barging into a bathroom and raping the woman, who was 20 years old at the time, after a night of drinking at a popular night spot. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison if convicted.

Lee's lawyers have argued throughout the nearly three-week trial that the encounter in his upmarket $32,000-per-month Hamptons vacation rental was consensual.

Lee, now 38, did not testify at his trial at a Suffolk county court in Riverhead before Judge Barbara Kahn. Lee also waived the right to a jury trial.

Lee, who had headed convertible bond banking at the bank, was put on leave after the rape charges were filed in August 2013. He left Goldman Sachs soon thereafter.

Authorities said the woman, her brother and two friends met Lee and his friend at a popular local night spot. They returned to Lee's rental in the early hours of the morning where they drank champagne and swam in Lee's pool.

The alleged victim, who lives in Ireland and has not been named, took the stand at the trial and gave her account of the alleged attack.

Lee's lawyer, Andrew Lankler, argued that the circumstances were consistent with consensual sex and said injuries on the woman were either old or may have been caused during consensual sex.

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Lee was arrested after police were called to the scene early in the morning of Aug. 20, 2013. He was found in the back seat of his Range Rover, where prosecutors said he was hiding.

The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Kerriann Kelly, said Lee had made numerous attempts to call a taxi from the back seat of his car in an apparent attempt to leave the scene.

Lee is charged with rape in the first degree, sexual misconduct and assault in the third degree.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by David Gregorio)

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