371 replies to this topic

[Bingo]

Unless the third witness is pretty stellar, we are about to find out that Ghomeshi is innocent of all charges.

Talk about the defence getting the bad guy off...

You can re-visit the most televised trial in American History "The People v OJ Simpson".

Not bad so far. The actress playing Marcia Clark is the most convincing.

http://www.theguardi...cuba-gooding-jrhttp://www.theguardi...cuba-gooding-jr

[VicHockeyFan]

Talk about the defence getting the bad guy off...

 

That's not quite right.  When a "guilty" person is acquitted, it's because the prosecution has failed to do its job properly.  

[dasmo]

That's not quite right.  When a "guilty" person is acquitted, it's because the prosecution has failed to do its job properly.  

Yep, Everyone deserves a defence. In OJ's case the prosecution sucked...If it doesn't fit, you must acquit....

[Bingo]

That's not quite right.  When a "guilty" person is acquitted, it's because the prosecution has failed to do its job properly.  

Right!  the most famous phrase of the OJ trial, "If it does not fit you must acquit" when Darden asked the defendant to try on the leather glove.

As a lawyer you never ask a question that you don't already know the answer to. In the Ghomeshi case the prosecution failed when the defence presented the damning emails.

[dasmo]

Oh ya, that letter from Lucy destroys her testimony. You don't write a letter like that after your assaulted! 

[VicHockeyFan]

 

As a lawyer you never ask a question that you don't already know the answer to.

 

In the Ghomeshi case, the prosecution seems to have failed to do that with their witnesses.   There are reports that the second witness submitted a whole slew of new info on the eve of her testimony, after she read how bad it went for witness #1.

[VicHockeyFan]

Oh ya, that letter from Lucy destroys her testimony. You don't write a letter like that after your assaulted! 

 

Maybe you do, maybe you don't.  But you do not "forget" you sent it.  That's the credibility issue.

[dasmo]

Maybe you do, maybe you don't.  But you do not "forget" you sent it.  That's the credibility issue.

Also true. It's a long letter! 

[VicHockeyFan]

Jian Ghomeshi defence lawyer says complainant made police statement after hearing media reports about trial

 

The judge in the trial of Jian Ghomeshi is holding a closed-door hearing to deal with new evidence that came to light over the weekend.

The hearing was requested by Ghomeshi’s lawyer, who said the third complainant expected to testify against the disgraced broadcaster gave a statement to police on Friday that was not fully disclosed to the defence until Sunday.

Marie Henein explained that the woman was in the courthouse last Tuesday waiting to be called to testify and did not at that time make any attempts to give a new statement to the Crown or to police.

 

http://news.national...shi-trial-day-5

 

Problems with the third witness now?

[Rob Randall]

I forgot it's not a holiday in Ontario and the trial is resuming.

Great feature on defence lawyer Marie Henein:

http://torontolife.c...homeshi-lawyer/

"Seven years after his acquittal, Frost still speaks of Henein with wary awe. Although he had to remortgage his house and sell his boat and his Jet Skis to pay nearly $200,000 in legal fees—$5,000 a day for the two-week trial alone—he has no regrets. Nor was he surprised to hear Ghomeshi had hired her. “These women better not be lying,” he says of the complainants in the case, “because if they are, Marie will crack ’em open and expose them.”"

[VicHockeyFan]

Well, the third and final witness now says that she not only went out with him for dinner (at one location) and then drinks at a bar (another location) the day after the all alleged assault, but she also had a "romantic encounter" with him that night, and felt no fear.

 

She also admits she never told police/crown this until this last Friday.

 

Cross-examination might not happen today.

 

http://news.national...shi-trial-day-5

[dasmo]

Looks like I might have to take back my rapist comment...

[VicHockeyFan]

I'm starting to think he might well have tested the boundaries of rough sex, and not done that in a very respectful or smart way... but I'm having trouble finding guilt here.

[satellite]

I think crown has established a pattern of behaviour.  I think they have met the requirements of assault:

 

" 265 1) A person commits an assault when

• (a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly;

 

 

I think defense is trying to show that the victim's actions after the fact somehow speak to the consent element during the fact, which I am not sure will fly with the court. It may help him out in sentencing, but suddenly choking your date without some sort of consent is an assault. I doubt you will see a court in 2016 call this 'rough sex'   

[VicHockeyFan]

I think crown has established a pattern of behaviour.  I think they have met the requirements of assault:

 

" 265 1) A person commits an assault when

• (a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly;

 

 

I think defense is trying to show that the victim's actions after the fact somehow speak to the consent element during the fact, which I am not sure will fly with the court. It may help him out in sentencing, but suddenly choking your date without some sort of consent is an assault. I doubt you will see a court in 2016 call this 'rough sex'   

 

Hmm, I'm not sure.  For one thing, it turns out witness #2 is a friend of witness #3, that's got to cause a problem for the judge.  Witness #3 has also admitted now she has at the very least listened to media coverage of the trial, despite the judge telling her not to.

 

All three witnesses have described a different type of assault, quite frankly.

 

And all three witnesses have admitted they did not tell all to police or prosecutors.

 

I don't think the crown has yet proven any of the events have taken place, indeed the credibility of the witnesses has to come into play here.  In a he-said-she-said, which this more or less is, you've got to make sure the witnesses are credible.  And that in this case, you are sure that consent was absent.  And just their word will likely not be good enough, when weighed against their omissions on other matters.

[satellite]

Good points. I'm curious what still might be left in the Crown's tank... where is the evidence that the CBC saw and apparently immediately fired him?

[Jill]

I don't think this court case has anything to do with the issues at work that cost him his job.

[VicHockeyFan]

I don't think this court case has anything to do with the issues at work that cost him his job.

 

I think what was meant that the CBC was shown some type of physical proof (photos?) of an assault, they said.  We have not heard of that in this trial.

[VicHockeyFan]

Witness #2 and #3 have had 5,000 items of correspondence with one another, and the defence has them.

 

 

Do you recall that Ms. DeCoutere does the same as well, when she goes into the Crown, she would report what it is like to you, Henein says.

 

Witness says she doesn’t rememeber.

 

Do you agree with me that you and Ms DeCoutere have talked about your allegations, you’ve talked about your meetings with the Crown.

 

Witness agrees.

 

And the other thing you talk about is how much you hate Mr. Ghomeshi, Henein says.

 

“Probably,” the witness says.

 

You say “It’s time to sink the prick,” Henein says.

 

Henein: You also said “I want so ****ing badly for that piece of **** to pay for what he’s done.”

 

Yep, witness says.

 

Another quote from the witness saying she hopes Ghomeshi is “losing his hair, turning grey, getting fat, developing a tick, and peeing his bed.”

 

Your happy he’s “locked at home with his mommy because he’s a peace of ****,” Henein says.

http://news.national...shi-trial-day-5

[VicHockeyFan]

Witness #3 as now admitted on the stand that she lied to police, twice.  After bdefence played portions of her police interviews

 

And that even in her new information to police on Friday, she forgot to tell them she gave him a "hand job" on the ngiht they went to dinner and then for drinks.

 

http://news.national...shi-trial-day-5