The trial of Connor Pratt began in New Plymouth District Court on Monday. Photo / Tara Shaskey
The trial of Connor Pratt began in New Plymouth District Court on Monday. Photo / Tara Shaskey
A Taranaki man is on trial for allegedly raping a woman as she lay next to her young son - but his lawyer wants the case thrown out, saying she gave consent but just can't remember doing so.
Defence lawyer Julian Hannam has today made an application to the court to dismiss the charges laid against Connor Pratt.
Pratt is defending one charge of rape and two of unlawful sexual connection in New Plymouth District Court by way of a judge-alone trial before Judge Simon Menzies.
He has been accused of raping a woman at her New Plymouth home during a night of drinking alcohol with her on September 18, 2020.
The trial began on Monday with the complainant the first to give evidence.
In a video played to the court of the woman's interview with police, she told a detective she had been drinking with Pratt and her two flatmates on the evening of the alleged rape.
She and Pratt had known one another for around six years and previously had sex once, she said.
They lost touch for a period but had been messaging one another in the months leading up to the night in question.
That night, Pratt went to her house with two bottles of vodka and he, the complainant, and her two flatmates drank the alcohol.
The woman, who claimed to have drunk about seven glasses of vodka mixed with lemonade over the course of the night, said that sometime after midnight her flatmate helped her put her then 1-year-old son to bed, as he was asleep on the couch.
She went to bed at the same time and though she couldn't recall much of the night, she remembered waking up to allegedly find Pratt having sex with her.
The woman's son shared a bed with her at the time and he was lying next to her, she said.
"It was a shock to me, I kind of just freaked out," she said.
She claimed to have tried to push Pratt off of her but alleged that he carried on having sex with her.
The woman said she began yelling and her flatmates ran into the bedroom.
An argument erupted between Pratt and the flatmates and at that time the woman realised her son was awake, but she wasn't sure if he was awake during the alleged rape.
The trial of Connor Pratt began in New Plymouth District Court on Monday. Photo / Tara Shaskey
In evidence, she told Crown prosecutor Justin Marinovich she had gone to sleep wearing tights and had woken up naked from the waist down.
She said there had been two conversations prior to the drinking where she had told Pratt that he was to go home at the end of the night.
Having someone to stay over with her was not an option given she shared a bed with her son, she told Marinovich.
Police found an open condom packet in her bedroom and Pratt claimed to officers that the woman had told him in the bedroom to put a condom on and where to find them.
The woman told Marinovich she didn't recall that.
The woman's "significant blanks" around the night's events was a common theme during defence's line of questioning.
She initially told Hannam she "didn't know" if she and Pratt had discussed having sex earlier in the night but after about 15 minutes into his cross-examination, she accepted that such a conversation may have taken place.
Hannam said the woman had "big gaps" in her memory and there were conversations she didn't remember, to which she accepted.
"I suggest to you that one of those conversations is the one that you had with Connor in which you agree to have sex with him."
When asked by Hannam if she accepted that, the woman said "sure".
He suggested the woman willingly had sex with Pratt and had become "shocked and embarrassed" by her flatmates walking in on the act.
Hannam then referred to a statement given by the woman's friend in which it is claimed the woman later said she was "OK" and that she was "moving on" from the alleged rape.
Hannam suggested she was able to "move on" because she had actually consented to having sex.
Following the woman's evidence, Hannam made an application to the court to dismiss the charges, under Section 147 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011.
The Act states that the court may dismiss a charge at any time before or during a trial, but before the defendant is found guilty or not guilty, or enters a guilty plea.
Hannam argued that given the defence in the matter is one of reasonable belief of consent, and having heard the complainant's evidence, the Crown could not produce evidence to discount the defence's case.
He said the woman had substantial blanks in her memory and had accepted that she had conversations with people which she couldn't remember.
Hannam said the complainant's evidence was the high point of the prosecution case and there were no other witnesses that could offer evidence as to what specifically went on.
Marinovich said there was evidence that established the complainant's level of intoxication to a point where the Crown would say that she did not have the capacity, even if she was slightly aware of what was going on, to give true consent.
But he acknowledged the woman's acceptance that she could have had a conversation with Pratt about having sex was relevant to the consideration of reasonable grounds for belief of consent.
Marinovich further highlighted that the woman accepted she had condoms in her bedroom and on Pratt's statement that he had retrieved a condom on her instruction, a conversation may well have taken place between them, he said.
Given the woman's other concessions, it would be difficult for the Crown to prove otherwise, Marinovich said.
Instead of calling the remaining eight Crown witnesses, Judge Menzies will read their formal written statements and consider the evidence he has heard so far.
He will deliver a decision on the application on Tuesday morning.
SEXUAL HARM: Where to get help If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111. If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7: • Call 0800 044 334 • Text 4334 • Email support@safetotalk.nz • For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list. If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.
