Infant dies in ATV crash, N.S. RCMP says alcohol may be a factor
An infant has died and three others, including another child, were taken to hospital following an ATV crash in Forties, N.S., on Monday.
The trial of a Newfoundland lawyer accused of sexual assault ended Tuesday with his defence team alleging the complainant lied under oath, while the prosecution said her memory lapses were understandable.
Defence lawyer Rosellen Sullivan used her closing argument to try to undermine the complainant's credibility, saying the woman's flawed recollection of dates and details about the alleged assaults by Robert Regular made her unreliable.
But Crown prosecutor Deidre Badcock noted that Regular, charged in relation to four alleged incidents with the complainant, said he could only recall dates accurately because he had records of his meetings. Without them, he too would have been left struggling to recall specifics in court, Badcock said.
“They have to be held to the same standard," Badcock told Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Justice Vikas Khaladkar. Sullivan shot back, saying Regular's records contradicted much of the complainant's testimony.
Regular is charged with one count of sexual interference and four counts of sexual assault, all involving the same complainant in incidents alleged to have occurred between 2001 and 2013 — including one when she was aged between 12 and 14. The incidents are alleged to have occurred in or near his law firm's office building in Conception Bay South, which is about 30 kilometres west of St. John's.
Regular pleaded not guilty to the charges, and in testimony during the trial, he denied all the allegations.
One charge involves the groping of the complainant when she was a child and alone with Regular in her mother's car. Sullivan questioned the plausibility of a well-established lawyer sexually assaulting a child he'd never met, in a car parked next to a busy restaurant parking lot in broad daylight.
"Why is that implausible?" Badcock countered. "Isn't it implausible that anyone would sexually assault anyone?"
The complainant has said the last three alleged assaults occurred while she was seeking Regular's legal services. Sullivan said the woman's testimony that the final two assaults took just minutes and involved penetrative sex was undermined by evidence that Regular had erectile dysfunction.
Regular testified that he suffered from heart problems as well as erectile dysfunction, Sullivan recalled. A doctor testifying for the defence said that if someone with his condition took Viagra hours before, they may be able to have sex in such a short time in "optimal conditions," she said.
“A busy office during the day with an unwilling participant is not optimal," Sullivan said.
She accused the woman of lying on the stand when she was questioned about being arrested at a gas station and about turning to someone who she says had sexually assaulted her for legal services. Lying under oath should be “fatal” to her allegations, Sullivan told the judge.
Badcock said that while Regular had access to all of the files and evidence that would be presented during the trial, the woman did not, and she was not able to "refresh her memory" the same way Regular was.
She said she agreed the woman confused the sequence of events at times, and that she sometimes did not remember things correctly, even while on the stand. But when she was arrested at the gas station, she was intoxicated, Badcock noted, so it makes sense she could not accurately recall what happened.
As for why the woman went back to Regular, Badcock said the main reason was the woman knew she would not have to pay because Regular was trading his services for sexual favours.
The woman's identity is protected by a publication ban, as is standard in sexual assault cases. Regular had tried to have his name also shielded from publication, but a judge refused his application for a ban in 2022.
Khaladkar said he will deliver his decision on June 27.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2024
An infant has died and three others, including another child, were taken to hospital following an ATV crash in Forties, N.S., on Monday.
Car manufacturer Nissan has issued a do-not-drive warning for some older vehicles equipped with Takata airbag inflators, due to the risk of explosion during a crash.
Jury deliberations began Wednesday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, putting the outcome of the historic case in the hands of a dozen New Yorkers who have vowed to be fair and impartial in the face of their unprecedented task.
Canadian figure-skating icon Tessa Virtue is expecting her first child, she revealed via social media Tuesday.
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
It’s a floating city exclusively home to the 1 per cent, a playground for multimillionaires and billionaires that circumnavigates the world's oceans.
Get ready to feel the heat, Canada. Weather experts are predicting more sunshine and warmer temperatures for the summer.
Canada has announced an $11.2-billion contract to improve training platforms for the military, including the purchase of 70 training aircraft for the Future Aircrew Training program.
The Edmonton Oilers are shaking things up. Down 2-1 in the NHL's Western Conference final to the Dallas Stars, head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed there would be lineup changes for tonight's Game 4.
Debby Lorinczy remembers her father as an amazing person and as a man who also made an amazing discovery.
Abigail Strate is a member of the Canadian national ski jumping team and an Olympic bronze medallist. She's also a certified beekeeper.
It's been a long time coming, but one Oilers superfan is hoping this will be the year he gets to touch up his massive Stanley Cup back tattoo.
A man's daring rescue of a newborn wild foal that was trapped after falling down a steep embankment was caught on video over the weekend.
A Winnipeg pinball wizard is heading to the granddaddy of them all – the IFPA World Pinball Championship.
It’s the chance of a lifetime for a group of Ottawa athletes who are getting ready to represent Team Canada at the World Junior Ultimate championships in the United Kingdom.
Parishioners at Holy Trinity Anglican Church are praying for a monetary miracle, as their historic place of worship could collapse at any moment.
A Saskatchewan man made it to the summit of Mount Everest earlier this month.
IAMGOLD’s Cote Gold open pit mine, located off Highway 144 between Timmins and Sudbury, had its official ribbon-cutting ceremony this week as production ramps up.