Jian Ghomeshi Sex-Assault Trial Kicks Off

In November 2014, in the early stages of the Jian Ghomeshi scandal, I wrote a newspaper column about the advice that I would give one of my daughters if, God forbid, she had been sexually assaulted.

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.

Ghomeshi’s defence lawyer tried to poke holes in the woman’s testimony, highlighting inconsistencies between what she told police and what she said in court. He says he was sacked from CBC because of the risk that his sex life would become public “as a result of a campaign of false allegations”.

In opening testimony, a woman who once considered Ghomeshi good dating material described how he had shocked her by going from sweet and polite to pulling her hair so hard, it hurt. Ghomeshi files a lawsuit against the CBC alleging breach of confidence, bad faith and defamation and seeking $55 million plus special damages.

The first witness, whose name is subject to a publication ban, testified Monday that Ghomeshi pulled her hair and punched her in the head at his home 13 years ago.

“She’s certainly one of the go-to lawyers in the city Toronto”, said Rosenthal, who has known Henein since she was a law student.

One of the women who contacted police was actress Lucy DeCoutere, a star of the long-running TV and film series ‘Trailer Park Boys’.

The first email was written in January 2004, about a year after she said he had yanked her to the floor by the hair during a “sensuous” kiss in his living room and then punched her in the head.

As to whether he pushed her or threw her to the floor, she added: “It wasn’t like he was saying ‘here, have a seat'”. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. But more than 20 individuals have made allegations against Ghomeshi.

The charges against Ghomeshi were filed back in 2014 after nine women complained to Toronto police that the host was physically violent towards them. This evidence, it said, was seen on October 23 and was the reason behind the decision to fire the “Q” host. CBC executives felt otherwise. He has denied the charges and said that they were all consensual as they were having “rough sex”.

On Monday, the complainant told the court that Ghomeshi had assaulted her on two separate occasions.

According to Gillian Hnatiw, DeCoutere’s lawyer, the proceedings deals with issues that are “deeply personal in nature”, but her client is allegedly in the dark as to what specifics of her case might be addressed in court. He is granted bail.

“I remain satisfied that I chose to come forward”, she said, and encouraged “other victims of abuse to come forward and not be afraid”. The CBC also announces it is “severing ties” with two top executives, Chris Boyce, executive director of CBC Radio, and Todd Spencer, the head of human resources and industrial relations for English services.

Sexual assault cases are notably challenging because they can rest heavily on the memory of a complainant, who may be, as in this case, testifying about incidents that may have happened more than a decade before. Ghomeshi has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and opted for a trial before a judge and no jury.