Order of Protection in 2013 Lee Rape Case
Jason Lee, the former Goldman Sachs managing director who was arrested last summer in East Hampton on charges that he raped a 20-year-old Irish student, was ordered today by New York Supreme Court Justice Barbara R. Kahn to refrain from any further contact with the woman, including through third parties.
An order of protection for a victim in cases like assault or rape is normally a standard procedure at the time of the initial arraignment. However, District Attorney Thomas Spota’s office did not request the order of protection when Mr. Lee was first arraigned on Aug. 21 based on the belief that Mr. Lee would surrender his passport and that the alleged victim was returning the next day to Ireland, Kerriann Kelly, an assistant district attorney who handles sexual abuse cases, said today.
Mr. Lee was not actually forced to surrender his passport until Sept. 20, 30 days after his initial arraignment in East Hampton, when he was re-arraigned on the felony charge in front of Justice Kahn in the Cromarty Criminal Courts building in Riverside.
Kimberly Shalvey, the lead prosecutor on the case, requested an order of protection on May 9, saying in court that day that an agent of Mr. Lee’s had contacted the woman at her home in Ireland, frightening her. “She feels that everything she does is being watched,” Ms. Shalvey said at the time.
“We have an obligation to our client to investigate,” Andrew Lankler, one of Mr. Lee’s attorneys, said outside the courtroom today of his agent’s visit to the woman.
Though Justice Kahn had said on May 9 that there was nothing wrong with a defense attorney reaching out to a claimant, she issued the order today protecting the alleged victim from any contact by Mr. Lee or anyone working for him after reading an affidavit from the alleged victim regarding the incident. “The people have met their burden,” she said. The order prohibits contact at her school or house or via email, Facebook, or other social media.
Mr. Lee signed the order in the courtroom today. He is due back in court on July 18.
Michael DuVally, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs, said today that Mr. Lee is no longer an employee of the firm.