Henein questioned why the woman insisted Ghomeshi had been driving a Volkswagen Beetle, or a “Disney auto”, when, she argued, the former CBC radio host owned a GTI vehicle at the time.
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THE CHARGES: Four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcome resistance by choking. He said that while he engaged in “rough sex”, he only participated in sexual practices that were “mutually agreed upon, consensual, and exciting for both partners”.
She’s been likened to Hannibal Lecter for her ability to zero in on people’s weaknesses, but the lawyer representing Jian Ghomeshi is also known for fighting for those who can’t defend themselves, one of her peers says.
“When I said under oath that I didn’t communicate, I didn’t remember I did”, the witness testified. “Your show is so great!” “I was surprised by how violent the allegations against him were”, stated Jim Hounslow, an employee of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and one of several of Ghomeshi’s accusers, told the Guardian.
She has also said that on another date, Ghomeshi pulled her to her knees by her hair and punched her in the head.
“For even someone who gets all those technicalities correct (cross-examination) can be a very jarring process”, she said.
“When I said under oath I didn’t communicate, I didn’t remember I did this”.
One of the few constants in the woman’s story – as told first to various media two years ago when the scandal around Ghomeshi broke in the press, then in a sworn statement to Toronto police, and finally in examination-in-chief here – was that she was shattered by the second attack.
The witness claimed that her only motivation for sending the emails was to trick Ghomeshi into calling her. “I’ve been watching you on Screw The Vote (a documentary Ghomeshi did that year on why young people don’t vote in federal elections) and I thought I’d drop you a line and say hello”.
Police launched an investigation in 2014 after nine women contacted various media sources to report incidents of assault and sexual assault involving Ghomeshi.
The emails appeared to contradict some of the statements the witness made, including the assertion that she never watched Ghomeshi’s show, and hadn’t been in contact with him again.
Instead, much of the process is simply getting the witness ready to deal with the stress of being in the spotlight and having someone challenge their recollections, she said.
Henein pointed out that the woman gave varying accounts of the punching incident, that she told the media she had been pulled down or thrown to the ground and told police at first the details were blurry, but later told them she had been pushed to the ground.
In a statement released after her testimony, the woman said going to court and facing Ghomeshi had been “extraordinarily difficult” but worth it.
After former Toronto police chief urged women to come forward, she says she made a decision to go to police to complain.
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“If the defence is destroying the credibility of one witness, they will have a harder time putting a similar fact application together”, said defence lawyer Cydney Israel, who is also not involved in the case and was speaking generally. “I will focus on what happens in this courtroom”.
