A Concord judge Wednesday denied a new trial for St. Paul graduate Owen Labrie. Labrie was convicted in 2015 of having sex with a minor on the prep school campus.
When Labrie fought for a new trial back in February, he argued that his defense team did a poor job representing him. He said his lawyers failed to properly prepare, that they disregarded key evidence and made no effort to defend him against one of the felony charges.
On Wednesday, a Superior Court judge ruled that wasn’t the case. In court documents, Judge Larry Smukler stated that Labrie’s defense team was made up of “highly experienced and prepared defense attorneys who made reasonable strategic and tactical decisions throughout the trial.”
Labrie will now appeal his one-year sentence to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He’s currently out on bail at his mother’s home in Tunbridge, Vermont.
Earlier this week, Labrie’s victim Chessy Prout was in the state advocating for sexual assault awareness.
