Messages to the jury in Cooktown rape trial are ‘honest witness’, and ‘liar’ as prosecution and counsel sum up their cases

Lawyers summing up a trial of two men accused of raping a woman in Cooktown after a night of heavy drinking and smoking cannabis are poles apart in their positions. Read what the jury has to decide between.

Lawyers summing up a trial of two men accused of raping a woman in Cooktown after a night of heavy drinking and smoking cannabis are poles apart in their positions.

But they do agree the main focus for jurors should be on “consent”, and whether the complainant agreed to a sexual “threesome”.

The two defendants, who cannot be named as it might identify the woman, are accused of raping her at her home in Cooktown on the night of December 18, 2019.

“She was in her own home with two men she should have been able to trust, and they broke that trust,” Crown Prosecutor Jodie Crane told the court.

“This trial boils down to the issue of consent. Any penetration without consent is rape.”

She told jurors that consent must be given freely by a person who has the cognitive capacity, and it cannot be given under threat, force, or through “fraudulent representation”.

She reiterated that the complainant had given evidence more than two years after the incident is alleged to have taken place.

“She was a young Indigenous person speaking about what someone – her (cultural relation) – had done to her, and someone she considered a friend.

An honest witness

“What she remembers are the important parts, the significant parts. Ultimately she was an honest witness,” Ms Crane said.

Crown Prosecutor Jodie Crane told Cairns District Court that the young woman was in her own home with two men she should have been able to trust, and they broke that trust. Picture: MARTIN LANGE

Ms Crane told jurors the complainant had said “no” up to a point in the evening, after which she froze and did nothing.

“To complain to the police as she did, to go through the criminal justice system as she did for two years is big.

“They are extreme measures to go to, to cover up a hangover or embarrassment.”

The court heard that her “cultural relative” had asked for a “threesome”, as he had shared one with her and his then partner six months earlier.

Ms Crane told the court “this threesome was different. She did not give her consent.”

Counsel Kelly Goodwin for one of the defendants told jurors there was no other conclusion they could come to than that there was reasonable doubt around the defendants’ guilt.

Against his own interests

He told jurors his client had made fair and reasonable admissions that were against his self-interest, such as admitting to smoking cannabis.

“This is consistent with the behaviour of a person who has nothing to hide,” he said.

The complainant had asked him up onto the bed, which he told the jurors they might see as evidence of consent.

“He believed she was consenting to have sex,” he said.

He reminded jurors the complainant had no bruising or abrasions, which he said meant the incident “was at no stage forced”.

He also told them that she had changed her story between her first and second police statements, which created “issues of reliability and credibility”.

Cairns Courthouse, where jurors are now tasked with reaching a verdict in the “threesome” rape trial. Picture: Brendan Radke

Counsel Tim Grau for the other accused man, who is Indigenous and a “cultural relative” of the woman, reminded jurors that the complainant was “spaced out and light-headed” after an evening of drinking and smoking cannabis.

“Her evidence is replete with numerous instances where she says ‘I don’t remember’ – dozens of instances, not including those times she said ‘I don’t know’,” he told the court.

He said she had lied about taking drugs, and when pressed for details, “she embellished, she exaggerated, I suggest she actually made up details. The story gets a life of its own.”

Cultural difficulties

He also spoke about the cultural difficulties his client faced because English was his second language.

He said it was clear from the police interview with his client that the man had not understood some questions being asked of him, nor did he understand the word “consent”.

“When asked about ‘choice’ he says ‘yes, she had a choice’,” Mr Grau told the court.

“We know she lied from the outset.”

Judge Gregory Lynham summed up on Wednesday afternoon before the jury went to deliberate on their verdict.

Originally published as Messages to the jury in Cooktown rape trial are ‘honest witness’, and ‘liar’ as prosecution and counsel sum up their cases