All eyes will be on Toronto tomorrow, where the sexual assault trial of former CBC superstar Jian Ghomeshi begins.
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The two briefly kissed in the front seat, she said, when without warning, Ghomeshi yanked her head back with a violent tug of her hair.
Such evidence could include DNA, observations about injuries or damaged clothing, and witnesses, Bellehumeur said, noting that with little physical evidence, such cases typically boil down to a “he said, she said” scenario, especially when the accused and complainants know each other. The woman said she did not go to police and felt emboldened to come forward after reading the allegations in the Toronto Star.
“He’s amusing, he’s intelligent, he opens doors, a flawless gentleman”, she recalled thinking of Ghomeshi in late 2002. The complainant said it was the only way she could get him to contact her, so she could ask him about the assault.
As they stood kissing in his living room, he suddenly grabbed her hair again, she testified – “really hard, harder than first time he did it”.
Ghomeshi listened quietly and with little obvious emotion, at times lowering his head.
“I’m terrified, I don’t know why he’s doing this”.
She also admitted she never went to the police with her claims, because she was afraid no one would believe her.
Earlier, a clean-shaven Ghomeshi wearing a black coat, white shirt and black tie, worked his way through a throng of media as he entered the downtown Toronto courthouse.
The sexual assault trial of former CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi resumed in Toronto this morning with his lawyer, Marie Henein, expected to show a video of a police statement by one of the complainants, whose testimony will continue today.
THE TRIAL SETTING: The Ghomeshi case is being decided by Ontario court justice William Horkins.
Ghomeshi’s trial began Monday, with a lengthy discussion on media access to exhibits. Author and lawyer Reva Seth (right) became the second woman to go public.
She denies suggestions from Ghomeshi’s lawyer she was unhappy that he appeared to have lost interest in her after an initial encounter where he had been highly flirtatious.
The defence had not sought psychological or counselling records and they were “not in play“, Henein told Horkins, adding sufficient safeguards existed to protect the complainants.
What’s more, he said, Callaghan is “more easy-going” than Marie Henein, the defence lawyer he will face in the courtroom. On the same day, the CBC issued a memo to staff saying it had seen “graphic evidence” that Ghomeshi had caused physical harm to a woman. Mr. Ghomeshi said in an October 26, 2014, Facebook post that he engaged in “rough” but consensual sex with women. He also faces another sexual assault charge, which 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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Henein, known for her take-no-prisoners style, is being assisted by Danielle Robitaille.
