Witness in Owen Labrie case had own accusations, defense lawyer said
An attorney for Owen Labrie claimed that a key witness in his high-profile sexual assault trial had faced his own questions of having sex with an underage girl but was not charged with any crime.
The allegation was made during a sidebar conversation, a newly unsealed transcript shows. The witness’s attorney denied that any such accusations existed.
During Labrie’s trial last August, witness Andrew Thomson testified that Labrie had told him he had sex with the alleged 15-year-old victim, testimony that was key to the case against Labrie. Thomson’s testimony was then cut-off when prosecutors objected to a line of questioning from defense attorney J.W. Carney, and the lawyers approached the judge.
A transcript of that conversation was unsealed by a New Hampshire court and released on Tuesday. In the sidebar, Carney offered to provide evidence that Thomson had gone out with a different 15-year-old girl at St. Paul’s School, and that the girl’s mother “believed that this witness had had sex with the girl,” according to the transcript. That, Carney argued, would show the “potential bias and prejudice of the witness.”
Carney also suggested that Thomson hadn’t faced harsher legal punishments because his mother was on the board of trustees at St. Paul’s School and had worked for New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan.
The judge rejected that line of argument, saying it was not relevant to any questions of witness bias, according to the transcript.
A spokesman for Thomson denied that he had faced these accusations in a statement to The Boston Globe.
“Andrew did not engage in any inappropriate sexual conduct during his time at SPS and there is no allegation that he did,” attorney James D. Rosenberg said in a statement. “These unfounded allegations appear to be part of the defendant’s trial strategy.”
Andrew Thomson was the former roommate of Owen Labrie.
The documents were released as Labrie attempts to appeal his case, in which the then-18-year-old was accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl at the prestigious St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire.
Labrie was convicted last August of misdemeanor sexual assault and a felony charge of using a computer to solicit the girl, but was found not guilty of more serious felony assault charges. Labrie is appealing, saying that he received inadequate legal counsel.
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