The lawyer of the specialist accused of gang-raping the young artiste asked questions of the complainant during cross-examination this Friday.
• Read more: The doctor accused the artist of raping him in his old Montreal penthouse
“Don’t you remember going to the bathroom twice? Remember taking sleeping pills the day before events? Was the cocktail he offered you gin or tequila? Maybe your memories are not accurate,” Me Valérie Riendeau told the complainant in a Montreal court this Friday.
A lawyer has been busy since this morning attacking the credibility of a young woman who was allegedly raped by Dr. Stephen Probst and a certain Wendy Tevera during an evening in Old Montreal in 2020.
An evening that turns bad
Because at that time, the young artist, protected by the court, said that he wanted to “experiment” with a girl. She would have met Devera, 30, on a dating application. The latter would have invited her to Probst’s luxurious penthouse, but the young artist made it clear that she did not want a sexual relationship with another man.
Later in the evening, the alleged victim said she was served a drink. After a while, her strength left her, and she was allegedly raped by Propstall while Tevera restrained her.
While the young artist says she almost managed to escape, she was allegedly raped again by Propstall. After she finally left, a police report was filed and both the doctor and Tevera, then head of department at Montreal’s Jewish Hospital, were accused of sexual assault.
Affects credibility
They have pleaded not guilty, so their trial will take place this week. And apparently, one of their tactics is to try to undermine the victim’s credibility by going back over each of their statements and questioning them about the smallest details of their story.
Except, Judge Suzanne Kostom noted, that many of the “inconsistencies” cited by the defense did not actually exist.
“You’re not going to raise reasonable suspicion,” the magistrate promised, calling on the defense to “pick your battles.”
The alleged victim, for her part, answers every question, reiterating what she explained the previous day during her chief interrogation, and sometimes even her state of mind during a few choice words or facts.
Crown prosecutors Delphine Mager and Jerome Laflamme confirm the witness was not being asked excessive questions.
The trial continues throughout the day, in the presence of the accused who listen attentively, sometimes nervously.
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