The first witness in the trial of Jian Ghomeshi has acknowledged in court that she sent the former radio star flirty emails, including a picture of herself in a bikini, months after he allegedly assaulted her. The witness has said in court that Ghomeshi jerked her hair while they kissed in his vehicle, but that her head did not strike the car’s interior.
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The woman said she didn’t go to police at the time because she didn’t think a complaint would go anywhere.
Ghomeshi will also face trial for a sixth charge of overcoming resistance by choking. “I was… I wouldn’t say in shock, but I wasn’t sure what had just happened. I’m OK.” He says he is taking some “much needed personal time” away from the CBC.
Once, she told Henein, “What I’ll tell you is after I sat with those memories, I remembered that”.
Police launched an investigation in 2014 after nine women contacted various media sources to report incidents of assault and sexual assault involving Ghomeshi.
Under cross-examination, defence lawyer Marie Henein questioned precise details of the allegations, which date back to 2003, pressing the woman on whether she had worn hair extensions or if she had been pushed or pulled to the floor.
The trial began Monday for the former host of “Q”, a popular radio show on culture that was heard on many public stations in the U.S.
The witness told the court that Ghomeshi had initially appeared the “perfect gentleman” before pulling her hair and striking her head on two occasions in 2002. “If reaching out to him was the only way to get [an explanation], it’s the only way to get it”, she said. She also successfully defended former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant who had been charged with criminal negligence, causing the death of a cyclist after an altercation.
In a long message on Facebook, Jian Ghomeshi had admitted having had sex “brutal”, but claimed that these relationships were always consensual.
The woman said she wanted no contact with Ghomeshi after that.
The charges were laid in November 2014 after at least a dozen women came forward with accusations Ghomeshi strangled them, punched them or slammed them against walls.
“The version I gave to the police was early days”, the witness explained, noting that she has remembered more of the incident since giving her statement to police.
The woman, who had met Ghomeshi at a Christmas party where she was working as a server, said he had invited her to a show taping, after which they went for a drink.
Her turn in the witness box over Tuesday, the first complainant issued a statement through her lawyer, Jake Jesin.
The defense did not ask for psychological records, which are thus “not in play”, said Ms. Henein Horkins the judge, adding that the tags are in place to protect complainants. He is facing an additional count of sexual assault that will be tried separately in June. However, due to the fact that the case itself is an indictable offence as well as the choking charge present, he runs the risk of between a 10 year to a life time sentence due to the nature of the crimes.
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“My default position is transparency”, Horkins said, “The exhibits will be made available”, stating he was mindful of the potential sensitivity of some evidence and would leave it to lawyers to flag any problems.
