Daniel Giuseppe Grimaldi pleads not guilty to rape as trial begins

A NQ man has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman he had just met with his lawyers arguing he believed the ordeal was consensual.

A Mount Isa man who is alleged to have raped a woman in his home has entered a plea of not guilty on the first day of the trial.

A Mount Isa man who is alleged to have raped a woman in his home has entered a plea of not guilty on the first day of the trial.

In Townsville District Court on Tuesday morning, Daniel Giuseppe Grimaldi pleaded not guilty to four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

Crown prosecutor Andrew Walklate told the jury of six women and six men, on the night of October 15 2021, a woman who he had met that afternoon returned home with Mr Grimaldi after they had been drinking with friends in Mount Isa.

“(Mr Grimaldi) kissed (her), she kissed him back and things progressed from there. (She) had a good inkling by this stage the way things were looking to go and they ended up having consensual sex,” Mr Walklate said.

The crown told the jury Mr Grimaldi inserted his penis into her bottom without her consent.

“He hadn’t asked her whether he could do that. He hadn’t discussed it with her, she had not said or done anything which gave him permission to do that,” Mr Walklate said.

“She pushed him away and she told him she did not want that.”

Mr Walklate said that over the course of the night he continued to anally rape her on three more occasions and when she was asleep she woke to Mr Grimaldi ejaculating on her.

“If you have anal sex with someone without seeking permission and consent is not given, that is rape,” Mr Walklate said.

“The fact that he had consensual penile, vaginal sex before then doesn’t matter in that circumstance, at all times the defendant did not seek out consent he just did what he wanted to do.”

Defence barrister Claire Grant, instructed by Anderson Telford Lawyers, said the issue in this trial was centred around consent.

“Whether (she) did give consent, and whether or not Mr Grimaldi held an honest and reasonable, but mistaken belief, as to whether she was giving consent,” she said.

Ms Grant told the jury her client never ejaculated on the woman.

The crown is expected to call upon a range of witnesses including people who were with Mr Grimaldi and the complainant on the night of the alleged offending, medical experts and officers involved in the investigation.

The court was closed as the complainant gave her evidence on Tuesday afternoon.

The trial, which is expected to go for three to four days before Judge Deborah Richards, will resume Wednesday morning in Townsville District Court.

Originally published as Daniel Giuseppe Grimaldi pleads not guilty to rape as trial begins