Judge says she can’t convict Frank Stronach on charges related to one complainant

The judge overseeing the sexual assault trial of billionaire businessman Frank Stronach told the court Wednesday she “couldn’t possibly convict” him on the charges related to one of the complainants in the case, whose evidence she deemed “completely unreliable.”

Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy had voiced concerns a day earlier about the reliability of the evidence given by the first complainant to testify in the Toronto trial.

The judge said that while she did not think the woman was deliberately lying to the court to get money, she was concerned the complainant had “added layers and layers” to her story over the years to the point of believing them.

As court resumed Wednesday morning, Molloy said that after reviewing and reflecting on some things, she found the woman’s evidence to be unreliable to the point of being “fatally flawed.”

Stronach, who achieved fame and wealth as the founder of the auto parts giant Magna International, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges related to seven complainants.

However, prosecutors have withdrawn five charges related to three complainants over the course of the trial, leaving him with seven charges related to four women. Two of those charges stem from the allegations of the first complainant.

Prosecutors continued their closing submissions Wednesday, urging the judge to consider similarities between the remaining three complainants’ accounts as she assesses their evidence.

Get breaking National news

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won't miss a trending story.

Sign up for breaking National newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Though the acts alleged by each woman are different, the context in which they took place is comparable in many ways, Crown attorney Jelena Vlacic argued.

2:21 Closing arguments at the Frank Stronach sexual assault trial

The women were of a similar age and had a similar age gap with Stronach, and there was a similar level of familiarity in their relationship with him, Vlacic said. “None of them are strangers, none of them are close friends, none of them are family,” she said.

In each account, there was an initial gathering in a public setting involving dinner or drinks, then they moved to a more private apartment, where Stronach’s behaviour suddenly became “amorous,” she continued. No words preceded that change, she said.

Molloy asked the Crown whether she should also consider similarities that could work in Stronach’s favour, noting two of the women testified he backed off after they said no. The judge said she had never seen the issue come up and wasn’t sure if there was case law on it, prompting Vlacic to say she would need time to look into it.

The two also spent some time discussing how to handle conviction and sentencing should the judge accept the evidence of the final complainant.

The woman testified Stronach raped her in the early 1980s, but couldn’t be certain of the year. The charge of rape no longer existed after January 1983, when it was folded into the newly created charge of sexual assault.

On Tuesday, Stronach’s defence lawyer argued that his accusers lied and in some cases fabricated their accounts.

Leora Shemesh also criticized what she described as “tunnel vision” among the officers who investigated the decades-old allegations, arguing it tainted the evidence.

Crown prosecutors argued any inconsistencies in the complainants’ testimony were peripheral and did not affect the core of their allegations.

In continuing its submissions Wednesday, the Crown disputed the defence’s portrayal of the police investigation, noting a number of the defence’s witnesses had been interviewed by police and the investigators testified they were limited in what they could do due to the passage of time.

Molloy replied she had been surprised to hear that the officers never went to Stronach’s waterfront condo or even the building, instead going to the hotel attached to it. It doesn’t take “expert investigatory skills” to find out the two buildings are connected, the judge added.

The defence previously said it would seek a stay of proceedings over alleged abuse of process, but told the court Wednesday it now wants the judge to consider the alleged abuse of process in weighing the case.

A motion on the matter is scheduled next week.