Following a judge-alone criminal trial arising from allegations within a deteriorating marriage, the court applied the W.(D.) framework to competing accounts by the accused and the complainant.
The court rejected the accused's denials as implausible and internally inconsistent, accepted the complainant's evidence as credible and reliable, and relied in part on text and email communications as corroborative evidence, including silence treated as adoption of accusations.
The Crown proved four counts of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt, but failed to prove the mens rea and other elements necessary for possession of a weapon for the purpose of committing an offence, assault with a weapon, and unlawful confinement.
The accused was acquitted on counts 1, 2, 3 and 8 and convicted on counts 4, 5, 6 and 7.
