Calls for Cab as Rape Investigation Began
As the rape trial of Jason Lee moved into its second day on Thursday, acting New York State Supreme Court Justice Barbara R. Kahn heard testimony from a taxi dispatcher, an East Hampton Town detective, and a retired Suffolk County forensic specialist.
Yadira Holandes-Vlazquez, a dispatcher for Lindy’s Taxi, told the court that Lindy’s received a call not long after she started her shift at 6 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2013. The caller asked for a cab from 1 Clover Leaf Lane in East Hampton to the Surf Lodge in Montauk, saying it was an emergency, the dispatcher said.
Mr. Lee was renting the Clover Leaf Lane house for the month. He and a friend had returned there for a late-night party with his accuser, a 20-year-old Irish woman, along with her brother and four others after meeting them at a nearby restaurant.
In court on Thursday, the dispatcher repeated the phone number given by the caller; it was the same one Mr. Lee gave as his own at his arraignment in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Aug. 21, 2013. The prosecution has not yet revealed that to the judge.
Minutes after the first call for a taxi came in, the man called back asking, “ ‘Where the f*** is my taxi?’ ” the dispatcher told the court.
Asked on cross examination if the caller had an accent, the dispatcher said that he sounded like a "typical city person" who "wants everything now."
East Hampton Town Police Officer Sarah Mortensen was originally responding to a report of a stolen vehicle, called in by Mr. Lee’s friend Rene Duncan. Testifying on Wednesday, she said that after she learned that the alleged victim -- identified only as D.D. -- was in distress, she brought her to her squad car, where the 20-year-old said that she had been raped by Mr. Lee. The officer said she noticed that Mr. Lee, who had been standing in the street before, had disappeared.
Shortly afterwards, the Lindy’s taxi arrived and the driver told Officer Mortensen that he was there to pick up his fare, she had testified. Officer Mortensen sent the taxi away. Mr. Lee was found two hours later curled up in the back seat of his Range Rover, which was parked just a few feet away.
Also testifying for the prosecution on Thursday were two detectives, Ryan Hogan of the East Hampton Town Police Department, and William H. Rathjen, a forensic specialist recently retired from the Suffolk County Police Department.
The trial will resume on Monday morning. The alleged victim is expected to testify next week.
Mr. Lee, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs, faces a minimum of five years in state prison if he is convicted on the rape charge. In addition, he faces two misdemeanor charges: assault in the third degree and sexual misconduct.