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Allegations of Abuse
in NZ |
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Tea Ropati - League Star accused
of rape |
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NZ Herald
Tea Ropati. A woman at the centre of sex
charges against former league star Tea Ropati had a blood-alcohol level
almost four times the legal driving limit around the time of the alleged
offending, a District Court jury was told yesterday. ESR evidence said samples taken from
Ropati's alleged victim estimated the woman's level at the time to have been
between 238 and 296 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit for driving is
80mg. Ropati, 43, is denying six charges
of sexual violation - including rape - of a 36-year-old woman in the early
hours of June 15, 2006. Prosecutors allege Ropati
assaulted the woman after the couple met at Auckland's Whiskey Bar earlier in
the evening. The woman cannot be named for legal reasons. Forensic scientist Alan Stowell
told prosecutor Phil Hamlin alcohol had an anaesthetic effect, and with a
level of up to 296mg, the drinker "is going to be affected to some
degree". Alcohol tolerance varied according
to how often it was consumed, he said. Ropati's lawyer, Gary Gotleib,
asked Dr Stowell if blackouts and the resulting memory loss were a sign of a
drinking problem. "They don't necessarily mean
the person is an alcoholic ... memory deficits can occur after a single
binge." Australian forensic toxicologist
Olaf Drummer told the court he estimated the woman had consumed the
equivalent of 14 to 16 standard drinks in the course of the night. A line of cocaine the woman had
snorted hours earlier was not likely to have been affecting her about the
time of the alleged attack, he said. Detective Nicholas Poore gave
evidence yesterday of an early interview with Ropati, in which a statement
was taken. In the statement - which Mr Poore
read to the court - Ropati said he met a woman at the Whiskey Bar, who seemed
"fine at first", and "happy". The pair had became friendly over
the course of the night, and had wound up together in an area of the bar
known as "The Whiskey Room". "We were pretty much groping
each other in there ... clowning around and being silly," the statement
said. Ropati said the pair had later
gone in his car to Victoria Park where, prosecutors allege, the rape took
place. But he denied having sex with the
woman, and in the statement said he had taken her to a taxi and given her $40
for the fare home. In a brief opening statement late
yesterday, Mr Gotleib told the court Ropati would call evidence in his
defence, including scientific and character witnesses. Ropati's wife is also expected to
testify, but not Ropati, as Mr Gotleib said there was nothing he could add to
what had already been submitted. |
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