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 Owen Labrie has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually
assaulting the younger student at St. Paul's School in Concord in an
attack that has cast a harsh light on the boarding school's culture.
Defense attorney J.W. Carney has contended that Labrie and the girl,
who last week testified that Labrie raped her in a machine room in a
building on campus, had a consensual encounter that followed a
friendly, flirtatious exchange between the two that did not include
intercourse.
"There's no question [she] knew exactly what she was doing," Carney,
whose prior clients have included former Boston mob boss James
"Whitey" Bulger, said in his opening statement last week. "It was a
source of pride for girls at the school to participate in senior
salute."
 The "senior salute" is a school tradition in which graduating
students extend invitations to get together with younger students,
often for sexual purposes, several students testified during the
trial.
St. Paul's, whose alumni include powerful U.S. business and
political leaders such as Secretary of State John Kerry, has said
"senior salute" does not reflect its values.
Labrie, of Tunbridge, Vermont, is expected to testify, perhaps as
early as Wednesday. He faces three felony assault charges, which
each carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Friends of Labrie's this week testified that he had told them he had
sex with the girl and prosecutors showed an emailed message
containing a list of people he wanted to have sex with that included
the girl.
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The alleged victim, now 16, last week testified that she had
expected to kiss Labrie when she accepted his invitation but no
more.
She said she did not immediately report the incident as a rape
because she did not want to create a scene at a time when her family
was at the school for her older sister's graduation.
"I was not about to make this weekend about me," she said. "That was
too selfish, that was the thought in my head."
(Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Bill Trott)
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