The final complainant to testify at Frank Stronach’s sexual assault trial says she will never forget the sound of him ripping her pantyhose at the crotch until nothing was left but the waistband.
The woman, who is in her late 60s, says that’s when she realized she wouldn’t be able to stop the businessman from doing whatever he wanted to do.
She says she laid there, on a cot in his waterfront apartment, sobbing quietly as he penetrated her without a condom one night in 1982 or 1983.
The woman says Stronach had grown aggressive and she didn’t want to anger him further.
Stronach, who is 93, has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to alleged incidents spanning decades.
The woman took the stand Monday shortly after prosecutors told the court they were seeking to withdraw a charge of sexual assault related to another complainant.
Crown attorney Jelena Vlacic said prosecutors determined there was no longer a reasonable prospect of conviction on that count, which relates to an alleged incident in 1986.
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Stronach’s defence lawyer, however, argued the judge should instead enter a finding of not guilty on that charge, saying her client has “earned it.”
On Friday, the Crown received notes from a police officer regarding the complainant’s 2006 report, defence lawyer Leora Shemesh said.
Those notes, which had not previously been found because they were filed under the officer’s maiden name, are detailed and in “complete contradiction” to what the complainant said on the stand, Shemesh argued.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy said they will deal with the issue once the Crown has finished presenting its evidence.
The charge the Crown is seeking to withdraw is the last remaining count related to that complainant.
Prosecutors last week withdrew a charge of forcible confinement related to the same woman, who was the sixth of seven complainants to testify in the case.
Court adjourned early Thursday after Molloy expressed concerns over the woman’s well-being and raised the possibility that her behaviour during cross-examination could affect the fairness of the trial.
Cross-examination had turned into a “shouting match,” and Molloy said she was growing concerned that the defence was not getting its right to a meaningful cross-examination.
The veteran judge said she recognized the complainant was struggling but stressed the defence had done nothing wrong and the accused “is still entitled to a fair trial.”
Court did not sit Friday.
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