Threesome sex-case verdict awaited

Waiouru Military Camp Photo/File

Traumatic, says Crown: consensual, says defence

The jury is expected to give its verdict today in a sexual violation case involving two soldiers who allegedly intimidated a woman into having a threesome in a Unimog.

The prosecution and one of the soldiers' defence lawyers delivered closing addresses yesterday at the Whanganui District Court to an eight-woman, four-man jury.

The trial of Keith Williams Cook and Michael Issac Galvin began on Monday before Judge David Cameron. Each defendant pleaded not guilty to three charges of sexual violation and three of indecent assault.

Crown prosecutor Megan Jaquiery told the jury there was no room for "sympathy or prejudice" in the courtroom, but the complainant's tears while giving evidence were "consistent" with her distress at the time of the alleged offending on October 5, 2012.

The incident happened at Waiouru army base.

Ms Jaquiery addressed issues raised by the defence about the complainant's memory of the night and inconsistencies or blank points in her story.

"That's how memory works, isn't it?" Ms Jaquiery asked.

She drew a comparison with ripples in a pond - the important details being distinct at the centre, and the minor details being indistinct and further away.

"[She] remembers the traumatic experience she went through," she said.

Ms Jaquiery also addressed questions by Cook's defence lawyer, Roger Crowley, on why the complainant hadn't resisted or tried to get help.

"Sometimes you freeze. Sometimes you do what they tell you to do because you don't want anything bad to happen."

She questioned why the men would stop the sexual activity and said it was because Cook "finally realised" they had gone "too far".

She also asked why the complainant would put herself through the distress of going through court and being subjected to "rigorous cross-examination" if it wasn't true.

Galvin's lawyer, Chris Tennet, argued the complainant never said no and that the sexual activity was entirely consensual.

The Crown said the complainant had repeatedly said no, and that she wanted to go home.

Mr Tennet said the complainant, when making the complaint that she had been sexually violated, didn't know what she would be putting herself through, or that "she's going to get these two lawyers cross-examining her".

He said the complainant had been drinking and her inhibitions were gone when the incident happened, and that she simply regretted her decision afterwards.

Mr Tennet said the complainant exhibited consensual behaviour during the whole incident, and the activity stopped as soon as she told the men she wanted to go home.

While giving evidence, Cook said the complainant told him she was worried about what to say to her partner and child.

"We were walking side by side and [she] started to cry," he said.

"I took her hand and asked her what was wrong.

"She told me she had a partner and kid and she wasn't quite sure what she was going to say to them."

He maintained he was "150 per cent" sure that he and Galvin did not force the complainant into doing anything.

After discovering the allegations, he had "freaked out".

"All I could see in my head was the word 'rape' and jail," he said.

The trial is expected to finish today.