By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
The Snapchat video made by Kyle Clampitt’s reported rape victim moments after the assault took place on a Dartmouth fraternity roof should not have been part of the trial evidence, according to an appeal notice filed by Clampitt’s attorney.
Clampitt, 28, is at the start of his 20 to 40 year prison sentence after a jury found him guilty on 12 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault this January, concluding the trial in Grafton Superior Court. Clampitt’s appeal was filed with the New Hampshire Superior Court earlier this month.
The rape happened in April of 2023 when Clampitt, who graduated from the Ivy League school in 2020, came back to his alma mater to watch a lacrosse game and attend a party at the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, according to court records. Clampitt played lacrosse for Dartmouth as a student.
The victim, then an 18-year-old Dartmouth freshman, went with Clampitt to the roof of the fraternity where she was raped, according to court records. Clampitt reportedly used physical force to control the victim during the rape.
Even though the jury found him guilty on 12 counts, it also found him not guilty on two counts of second-degree assault for allegedly strangling the woman during the sexual assaults.
The victim got back into the fraternity house after the roof-top assaults and told another person about the rape. The victim and this witness were soon confronted by Clampitt, who wanted to know what she had been saying, according to court records. The witness got the victim past Clampitt, took her to an empty bedroom in the frat house, and told her to lock the door.
Locked in the bedroom while the witness was talking to at least one other person, the victim made a video on the Snapchat app. According to court records, the woman was crying as she discussed having been raped. She was brought to a hospital emergency room that night where she was given a rape exam.
Clampitt’s appeal notice does not go into details on the legal arguments he plans to pursue with the Supreme Court, but it does state Judge Jonathan Frizzell’s decision to allow the video will be challenged. The notice also indicates the victim’s statements to a SANE nurse about the reported rape will be used as a basis for the appeal.