Detective Saw No Injuries on Jason Lee After Rape Claim

Two detectives who testified in Jason Lee’s rape trial on Thursday in Riverside bolstered the arguments of both the prosecution and the defense at different times.

William H. Rathjen, a forensic specialist recently retired from the Suffolk County Police Department, provided an in-depth look at the house and grounds at 1 Clover Leaf Lane in East Hampton, the scene of the alleged crime on Aug. 20, 2013, showing over 160 photographs that he shot there on Aug. 21.

Questioned by Kerriann Kelly, head of the major crimes unit for District Attorney Thomas J. Spota, Detective Rathjen said it was his expert opinion that the downward swipe of a hand he found towards the top of the inside of a bathroom door and the swipe of two fingers on the lower part of the door were made by the same person, Mr. Lee’s 20-year-old accuser.

Prosecutors contend that she had tried to keep Mr. Lee out of the bathroom where she was changing by pressing the door closed, but that Mr. Lee had forced it open and raped her on the bathroom floor.

But under cross-examination by Andrew M. Lankler, an attorney for Mr. Lee, the detective said that while he could scientifically identify the two fingerprints on the lower part of the door as belonging to the alleged victim — known only as D.D. — he could not do the same for the hand swipe higher on the door. Rather, he said, it was his professional opinion, based on 20 years of experience as a crime-scene officer.

As part of their investigation, East Hampton Town police fingerprinted D.D. and her two companions — her brother and a friend named Fiona — to compare them with prints picked up by the forensics team. However, those prints were not “taken well,” Detective Rathjen said, and Irish police needed to take a second set of prints in April of last year.

Mr. Lankler questioned the work done at the crime scene. “You don’t know if anybody dusted the floor? The walls of the bathroom, did you dust those?” he asked. The answer to both questions was “No.”

Besides photos of fingerprints, the detective guided the court through the numerous photographs he had taken of the house and grounds.

Mr. Lee and his wife, Alicia Lee, are Manhattan residents who were both employed by Goldman-Sachs at the time and had rented the East Hampton house for the month of August. Mr. Lee, then a managing director for the financial giant, was placed on leave after being arrested, and has since been terminated, by mutual agreement.

The three bedrooms downstairs were immaculate in the photos, with none of the bedcovers disturbed. The bedcover in the upstairs master bedroom had been ruffled. Beneath a pillow on that bed, the detective showed, was Mr. Lee’s wallet, with his identification and money.

East Hampton Town Detective Ryan Hogan identified the items of clothing that Mr. Lee was wearing when arrested, including a grey shirt, white cotton boxers, and khaki shorts, which had been seized as evidence.

Detective Hogan had photographed Mr. Lee after his arrest, to record any injuries, he told the court.

“Did you see a single injury?” Mr. Lankler asked during his cross-examination. The detective said that he did not, aside from a cut on the cuticle of Mr. Lee’s thumb.

At one point, Mr. Lankler went back to Mr. Lee, seated at the defendant’s table. “Anything else?” Mr. Lankler could be heard asking. Mr. Lee whispered in Mr. Lankler’s ear, and the attorney then resumed cross-examination about the cut on Mr. Lee’s cuticle.

“Would that be consistent with someone who chews their nails?” he asked the detective, who replied that it would. Mr. Lankler asked if Mr. Lee chewed his fingernails.

“I have not seen his fingernails in a very long time,” the detective answered.

The trial is expected to resume on Monday.