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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse in NZ |
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The jury in a
Palmerston North rape trail is weighing up the evidence after the defence
concluded its case yesterday. Trevor Ernest Connolly,
47, joiner, has been charged with raping the mother of his fourth child in
March 2003 and threatening to kill her in November 2002. The jury of seven women
and five men was told the best "tool" at their disposal, in
determining a verdict, was the taped conversation between the accused and the
complainant played to the court on the first day of the trial. In it, according to
Crown prosecutor Deborah Davies, Connolly admitted to, and apologised for,
the rape of the 37-year-old complainant. Ms Davies told the jury
the secret tape was "the greatest tool available to you, short of going
back in time". She rejected Connolly's
claim his taped words were an apology for ejaculating, saying anyone who had
had a false complaint of rape made against them would have been angry and
would not have played along as he had said he had done. Ms Davies said the
complainant had no reason to lie. "She had nothing
to gain in June 2004 [when she made the complaint to police], and nothing to
gain now." Ms Davies said the
secretly recorded conversation showed a pattern of behaviour of a
controlling, jealous and obsessed man. She questioned the
defendant's claim the sex on March 9 was consensual, and drew the jury's
attention to the location of the act -- in bed with their young son. "Why would he
willingly have sex on the same bed as their three-year-old son? It doesn't
make sense," she said. In response, defence
lawyer Mike Antunovic said the complainant was an unreliable witness because
of inconsistencies in her evidence over the order and location of events. He urged the jury to be
aware that "gut feeling" was not enough to convict the accused. |
