Rape trial goes to jury

SALEM – A Superior Court jury heard closing arguments and began deliberating Thursday in the rape trial of a Lynn man charged with participating in the gang rape of a Salem teenager in his mother?s Lynn apartment.?[The victim] had the opportunity to get a little wild,” defense attorney William Martin said. “She wants to have fun?then stuff starts to happen, and she goes for it at first.”Martin argued that Rafael Nina Brito, 22, of Lynn, could not be guilty of a crime because the victim initially consented to having sexual relations with the four men.Brito is charged with aggravated rape for his alleged participation in the rape of a then-17-year-old Salem girl on Feb. 15, 2008, when he and three other men were supposed to be giving her a ride home from a friend?s house in Lynn. Instead, they took her to Brito?s mother?s house, where they took turns raping her.Luis Arias, 22, and Justin Louf, 21, of Salem, pleaded guilty to the rape last week and were sentenced to state prison terms of four years and six months and three years and nine months, respectively.Martin referred numerous times to a statement the victim gave police on Feb. 16, 2008, in which she said she was “considering how much I really did,” as “very telling” evidence that the victim had consented to the act. He also read the jury text messages sent by the victim to one of the men in the days following the rape, which he said depicted “a girl that doesn?t know what happened, and that feels bad about it.”?I?m suggesting you find what is consistent with Brito?s legal innocence,” Martin told the jury. “Not his moral innocence, he?s guilty of that, they all are, but that?s not what this trial is about.”Martin then reminded jurors that a DNA analyst testified Wednesday to finding no traces of Brito?s DNA on the victim or her clothes, but admitted Brito had put his hands on the victim during the rape.?Oh, there was touching,” Martin said. “And it was in a private area, according to [Brito], but that part was consensual.”But Assistant District Attorney Greg Friedholm depicted in his own closing argument a scenario in which the men preplanned the rape once they saw the girl was intoxicated by talking in Spanish as they drove around the city with the victim, and lied to her about their plans once they arrived at the apartment.?She turned to a person she thought was her friend, thought she could rely on, and asked can you give me a ride home,” Friedholm said. “We?ll never know if they intended to bring her home before they saw her condition.”Brito said he “felt bad for not stopping” the three other men involved and admitted to groping the victim in a taped interview with Lynn Police that Friedholm played for the jury Tuesday.Friedholm emphasized the size of the four men compared to the victim, noting that they collectively weighed over 1,000 pounds, while she weighed less than 150 pounds. Then he focused on Brito?s involvement with the rape.?[Brito]was the one that gave more alcohol to her, and offered up his house,” Friedholm said. “He made his bedroom their own personal playground. Hold him responsible for that.”Before deliberations began, Judge John T. “Jack” Lu explained to the jury that, if found not guilty of aggravated rape, Brito could also be convicted of the lesser charges of rape and/or indecent assault and battery.Brito?s mother, three sisters and other loved ones watched the closing arguments on one side of the courtroom while the victim, her mother, stepfather and boyfriend sat on the other. Neither side left the courthouse as the jury deliberated for over three hours before being dismissed for the day.Taylor Provost can be reached at [email protected].