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Former Goldman Sachs Executive Acquitted In Hamptons Rape Trial

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A former New York City investment banker has been acquitted of charges he raped an Irish tourist at his Long Island rental home after meeting her at a Hamptons nightclub.

Suffolk County Court Judge Barbara Kahn issued the verdict Wednesday following three weeks of testimony in the non-jury trial.

Jason Lee, a former executive with Goldman Sachs, could have faced up to 25 years in prison.

One of Lee's attorneys, Edward Burke Jr., indicated the prosecution never had a case.

"This was a false accusation and we're deeply troubled that this matter went this far," he told reporters, including 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera. "The evidence was clear from day one and it took the judge less than 24 hours to render a verdict and dismiss all of these charges."

But Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota was disappointed with the verdict and believes the woman was raped.

"I think the evidence clearly proved the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," Spota said. "We tried."

Former Goldman Sachs Executive Acquitted In Hamptons Rape Trial

The key witness in the trial was the now 22-year-old alleged victim, who returned from Europe to testify.

She said the 38-year-old Lee was naked when he forced himself into a bathroom while she was changing clothes and sexually attacked her in August 2013.

Prosecutors said Lee and a friend took the woman, her brother and her friend to his house to continue partying after drinking at the nightclub, where Lee had been celebrating his birthday.

The woman said that when she went to a bathroom to change out of wet clothes following a moonlight swim in Lee's backyard pool, a naked Lee forced his way in, knocking her to the ground as she fought to keep the door shut. She said he jumped on top of her and sexually assaulted her, at one point putting his hand over her mouth and telling her to be quiet.

"He pulled up my dress and pulled off my underwear," the woman testified. She said she eventually was able to force the assault to end: "With every ounce of strength I had in me, I kneed him in the groin."

The woman said she had worked during the summer of 2013 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and was visiting with her brother in Montauk during her final days in the U.S. She said other than her brother, "nobody at home knows what happened" during the visit to the Hamptons.

The case has been widely followed by Irish media.

Lee, who is married, did not testify at the trial.

His wife was at the couple's Manhattan home the night of the party. She has accompanied him to court throughout the trial and had a big smile on her face as Kahn found her husband not guilty.

Lee's lawyer had argued the sex had been consensual.

During closing arguments Tuesday, defense attorney Andrew Lankler said that following Lee's arrest, authorities found no evidence to substantiate the woman's claims that she fought him off during the struggle. "There is not a scratch on him,'' Lankler said of the alleged "violent struggle that lasted a minute and a half.''

He also cited what he said were inconsistencies with the woman's version of the events and what she was wearing in the bathroom when she testified before a grand jury two years ago and her trial testimony this month.

A police officer testified at the trial that when she was called to Lee's home early on a Sunday morning to investigate an unfounded claim of a stolen car, the victim's brother informed her that his sister was troubled by something that happened earlier in the home. The police officer said that is when the victim told her that Lee had raped her.

He was found by police hiding in the back of his SUV and was arrested later that afternoon.

Lee worked for Goldman Sachs and a spokesman there said Lee left the firm sometime last year; he had worked in the equity capital markets department. His current employment status was not clear.

Lee left court without commenting, jumped into an SUV and was driven away.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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