Jesse-James Samuel Blade Fennech found not guilty of rape

A 24-year-old Mackay man accused of raping a woman he had known for a month but had “strong feelings” for, was found not guilty just 30 minutes after a jury started deliberating.

A Mackay region man has been found not guilty of raping a woman. FILE IMAGE

A Mount Jukes man accused of raping a woman he had known for a month was found not guilty just 30 minutes after a jury started deliberating.

Jesse-James Samuel Blade Fennech, 24, faced the Mackay District Court, where a jury was asked to find beyond reasonable doubt whether he had raped a 19-year-old woman over a two-day trial.

The statement provided by the woman was that they had never acted as more than ‘casual friends’ before as she had a boyfriend and that the day of the alleged offence was the first time they had physically touched when he raped her.

She said that she “froze” when it happened as she was “scared”.

Mr Fennech’ s statement contradicted her statement, saying they had been very close, had “kissed and cuddled” multiple times before the day of the alleged offence, and that on that day she had initiated the sexual intercourse.

The jury heard evidence from the complainant in closed court, as required by law, as well as evidence from five other witnesses, including her sister, two of her friends, two police officers and a medical expert.

They also heard two recordings, one that was a phone call between Fennech and the woman and one long recording of Fennech answering questions to a police officer the day after the alleged sexual abuse.

Defence relied on ‘character’ of the witness

Defence barrister Scott McLennan told members of the jury to consider the character of the woman as she had “lied” about multiple details throughout the trial.

Mr McLennan said the first lie was about the nature of their relationship, as she said they had been only ‘casual’ friends, who met only a couple of times, and had never been alone together before.

He said the multiple phone calls recorded between the two of them as well as the evidence of her sister saying she had seen them spend time alone together contradicted the statement.

He also referred to what Fennech’s mum had said in other recorded evidence that was played before the court, that they kissed “all the time” and that the woman would come home “late at night”.

Mr McLennan said the second lie was that she denied smoking marijuana on that night in front of the court while it was admitted evidence that her DNA was found on the mouthpiece of a bong and that text messages were found where she was asking Fennech to buy her marijuana.

The third lie mentioned by the defence was that she had said there was no digital penetration while the medical assessment she had made the day after the alleged offence said there was.

Mr McLennan said the woman’s judgment might have been affected by the “six or seven endone pills” she admittedly took when she got home on that day.

He said the idea of “rape” was not something she had formulated herself until her friend had suggested it to her over several phone calls they had that night.

He added further to this that the evidence provided by Mr Fennech was more “plausible”.

The court heard a recording of Mr Fennech and the defendant on a phone call where she had told him their encounter had not been “consensual”.

Mr McLennan said the reaction of Mr Fennech had been a genuine astonishment.

“I don’t understand,” he had said as he was crying.

“I would never ever do that to you.”

“I didn’t know you didn’t want to sleep with me.”

The court also heard a half-hour recording of a conversation between a police officer and Mr Fennech, the day after the alleged offence where he kept repeating their exchange had been consensual and that she had initiated it.

Prosecution says ‘inaccuracies’ to be expected

Crown Prosecutor Cameron Wilkins said inaccuracies in someone’s recollection of an event are to be expected, and that the imperfect recollection of the event suggested she was being genuine in giving evidence.

Mr Wilkins said the main fact had remained the same; witnesses all remembered her telling them she had been raped.

“You might not recall the colour of a person’s dress, but that doesn’t make you a dishonest person,” he told members of the jury.

He added that the woman had taken endone pills only after talking to her friend, which meant she would not have had her mind clouded by the medication when she explained what happened.

Mr Wilkins said prosecution was not satisfied that Mr Fennech had made a “mistake of fact”, meaning that he had a reasonable reason to believe she had consented.

He said the woman maintained that their relationship had been casual, had never acted as more than friends before and that the moment he had “tried to get his leg over her” was the first physical contact they ever had.

He reminded members of the jury that the first time Mr Fennech allegedly tried to put his leg over her, she had pushed him away and the second time he had “pinned down her wrists”.

Mr Wilkins said she had not given her consent, but that she “didn’t say it verbally” because she “froze”.

“There’s no right or wrong reaction when something like that happens to you,” Wilkins said adding that history had shown it could take years for victims of sexual abuse to come out.

“Yes she could have screamed but she didn’t … that doesn’t mean her reaction was wrong.”

Snapchat ‘flirt’ allegedly raped friend after walk

A Mackay region man is accused of raping a woman who considered him only as a “friend” while he maintains their sexual encounter was consensual.

Jesse-James Samuel Blade Fennech is facing day one of his trial in the Mackay District Court after he pleaded not guilty to raping a woman in March 2022.

Eight women and four men members of the jury listened to the opening statement of Crown Prosecutor Cameron Wilkins on Tuesday morning.

Mr Wilkins told members of the jury the trial would be about assessing whether there was consent for the act of sexual intercourse.

Mr Wilkins said Mr Fennech had spent the day with the woman. They went to the Forty Foot Water Hole Walk in Mount Jukes and then headed back to his house.

Upon arriving at his house, they had greeted his parents and headed to his room where they both sat on the bed and talked about “general matters” before he went to close the door.

Mr Wilkins told the jury Mr Fennech tried to “get over her” a first time and she kicked him aside, thinking it was a “joke”.

Mr Wilkins said the Crown alleges Mr Fennech had reiterated but this time he “pinned both of her arms down” removed both their clothes and raped her.

She had left the house alone at around 7:30 to 8pm that night and blocked him on social media the next day.

Mr Wilkins said the woman considered Fennech as a friend only as she had a boyfriend, but that Fennech liked her as he would “flirt with her on Snapchat”, call her “gorgeous” and had tried to “kiss her before”.

Mr Wilkins said police had recorded a call between the woman and Mr Fennech where he explained the sexual intercourse had been consensual and that it had been initiated by her.

He told officers at no stage had she “pushed him away” and that he didn’t understand “why (she) was hurting”.

Mr Wilkins said members of the jury would hear from six witnesses including the aggrieved, her sister, two of her friends as well as two police officers.