TRURO - The finding of guilt or innocence of two Truro men accused of sex assault appears likely to hinge on whether the jury deems the complainant's testimony credible.
Defence submissions presented yesterday portray the woman as anything but truthful. Co-Crown Attorney Paul Drysdale, however, said the woman was honest to the point where she came before the court "with all her warts on display."
"She didn't hold anything back," he said, regarding the woman's testimony of her alcohol and drug use and of her consensual, simultaneous sex with both of the accused on the night of the alleged incidents last Sept. 18 and 19.
Robert (Bobby) Henry Desmond, 49, and Michael Shane Paris, 48, are each charged with sexual assault, sexual assault with an electric razor, bodily harm during a sexual assault, confinement, uttering threats and assault. Desmond has pleaded guilty to the assault charge (by choking) while Paris has pled not guilty to all charges.
Drysdale summed up the Crown's case by stating that while the woman "has the right to sleep with whomever she wants, she also has the right to say no.
"She has the right to change her mind halfway through, is our respectful submission."
Drysdale also said that in looking at the "totality of the evidence, there is no sound reason why the "terrorized" woman ran screaming and naked into the night if her version of events were not correct.
"The evidence she gave should give you proof beyond a reasonable doubt," he said.
Both defence lawyers, however, disagreed.
"I put it to you that (the woman) would not know the truth if she tripped over it," said Peter Lederman, the counsel for Paris. "She is a completely unreliable and untruthful witness."
Some of the basis for that comment, he said, stems from the fact the woman did not mention she had been sexually assaulted in her initial statements to police. The truth was further strewed, Lederman suggested, when the woman originally led police and the doctor who examined her to believe that teeth marks on her breast and a torn bra occurred during non-consensual sex. The woman later testified in court that both of those incidents occurred during consensual sex earlier in the evening.
Desmond's lawyer, Dave Mahoney, reiterated the position that the woman's contradictions should lead to acquittals, except for the assault charge to which Desmond has pled guilty.
"There are not only one or two reasons for you to doubt (Desmond's guilt) there are many reasons," he said.
The jury is to begin deliberations today after receiving instructions from Justice Robert Wright in the morning.
