The complainant in the sexual assault trial of former MP Harold LeBel presents a “dramatic portrait” of the situation and undermines the credibility of her testimony, argues the defense in this case. The prosecution replies: the accused demonstrates a “selective” memory and offers inconsistent versions to the jurors.
During the defense arguments on Wednesday morning, Mr. LeBel’s lawyer, Mr.e Maxime Roy, tried to attack the version of the facts delivered last week by the alleged victim, whose identity is protected by a court order. The complainant maintains that after unhooking her bra without consent and attempting to force open the bathroom door where she had locked herself, the accused allegedly subjected her to unwanted touching for an entire night in October 2017 .
“Ask yourself questions about the sincerity of her testimony, and did she want, in some respects, to present you with a somewhat dramatic portrait of the situation”, launched Mr.e Roy to the 14 jurors, Wednesday.
In the eyes of the defence, several aspects of the testimony of the alleged victim are “implausible”. For example, even if this “port[ait] a dress and a jacket”, the accused would have succeeded “at the first attempt, with one hand” to unfasten her bra, raised Me Roy.
“She writes a text message in the bathroom to challenge her friend […] because she is worried about Mr. LeBel’s behavior. […] Ask yourself the question: where is the text message? Where’s the text? Why didn’t she keep it? added the defense attorney.
“The accumulation of all the implausibilities is too great” for Mr. LeBel to be condemned beyond any reasonable doubt, he maintained.
The prosecution countered that “until July 2020”, the plaintiff was trying to “forget”. “She is not investigating Harold LeBel, she is not building a case against him, she is not collecting evidence,” said lawyer Manon Gaudreault, who represents the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions. The loss of the text message to her friend can only be explained by the large amount of exchanges they have had over the years, she added.
Blackouts ?
When making its pleadings, the prosecution for its part raised the changing versions offered by the accused to the police, then to the jury. “This man who tells the police that he had a blackout during the night” have a “selective memory”? asked M.e Gaudreault.
According to the defense, Mr. LeBel demonstrated throughout his testimony that he was “sincere”, “consistent” and “reasonable”. Not remembering certain elements of the evening “is not enough” to receive a guilty verdict, Ms.e Roy, Wednesday.
Except that beyond the testimony, the accused has already demonstrated “regrets” and offered “apologies” to his alleged victim, the prosecution found. “This is an evening of alcohol that I wish I had never known,” Mr. LeBel wrote in an email sent to the complainant in 2020.
“When we look at all the evidence, is the accused’s version, which denies sexual contact, compatible with his own regrets? asked M.e Gaudreault to the jury. Do you regret things you didn’t do? »
While asking the jury to return a guilty verdict, the prosecution lawyers on Wednesday suggested to the jurors not to fall into “prejudices”. “We must not fall into preconceived ideas and say: an attacked person should have acted in such and such a way. Instead, you should look at how she explains her assault: the accused is her friend, […] she knows he’s stronger than her, and his behavior has completely changed,” Ms.e Gaudreault.
Harold LeBel’s sexual assault trial continues early next week. The jury could return a verdict Monday, at the earliest.