Day 11 of the Alexander Brothers trial began with a clinical, academic discussion of trauma psychology but ended with some of the most disturbing and detailed allegations of the case so far. A new witness, testifying under the pseudonym Isa Brooks, delivered a harrowing account of being drugged and gang-raped at a Hamptons party in 2009 when she was just 16 years old. Her testimony not only implicated Tal and Alon Alexander but also their friend, David Rabello, marking the first time in the trial that Rabello has been directly accused of participating in a sexual assault alongside the brothers.
What the Witnesses Said
Dr. Lisa Rocchio: The prosecution’s expert witness on trauma psychology returned to the stand to explain the common, and often counterintuitive, ways victims respond to sexual assault. She testified that the vast majority of assaults are committed by acquaintances, not strangers, and that victims often freeze, have fragmented memories, and delay or never report the crime due to fear, shame, or the betrayal of trust. During a lengthy cross-examination, the defense got Dr. Rocchio to agree that while these behaviors are common, their presence doesn’t prove an assault occurred, and their absence doesn’t disprove it, emphasizing that every case is different and behaviors cannot be interpreted in a vacuum.
Isa Brooks (Pseudonym): A 31-year-old woman who was a 16-year-old boarding school student at the time, Brooks testified that she and a friend were invited to a Hamptons house party in 2009 by a party promoter named Matt Lipman. She recounted David Rabello giving her a tequila drink that made her feel instantly disoriented, heavy, and “limp.” She alleges that Tal and Alon then took turns raping her in a bedroom. Her memory then goes dark until she came to consciousness with Tal holding her arms down while Alon, David Rabello, and a fourth, unidentified man were on top of her, raping her.