WARNING: This story references sexual assault and ideas of suicide, and incorporates graphic language.
The sexual assault trial of Const. Jeffrey Turnbull started this week in Hamilton with Turnbull pleading not responsible, and a fellow officer testifying about sexual feedback, inappropriate messages and assault she says occurred in 2022.
The girl, whose identification is protected underneath a publication ban, additionally underwent questioning by the defence, which took concern with a lack of written information supporting her accounts.
On the primary day of the trial Tuesday, the 28-year-old woman, who additionally works for the Hamilton Police Service, answered questions from Crown lawyer Jason Nicol. She testified Turnbull touched her with out her consent over a interval of months earlier than sexually assaulting her.
Ontario’s Particular Investigations Unit, which investigates incidents involving police that result in dying, severe damage or sexual assault, publicized the sexual assault cost in opposition to Turnbull in June 2023. Justice Jennifer Marie Campitelli is listening to the case within the Ontario Courtroom of Justice.
Defence lawyer Joanne Mulcahy began her cross-examination on Wednesday. Turnbull was sitting beside Mulcahy and might be seen taking notes throughout a lot of the lady’s testimony.
On Tuesday, the lady mentioned she met Turnbull in December 2021, about seven months after she was employed as a police officer. They had been each constables on the identical squad and he had extra seniority than her, she testified.
She mentioned that on in the future in late December 2021 or early January 2022, Turnbull approached her within the lunch room, the place she was alone. He made a remark about looking for her on the social media app Snapchat, requested her if she was in a relationship and instructed her he had a spouse and two youngsters, she instructed court docket.
Then, she mentioned, he requested her what it was wish to be a feminine police officer and warned her that folks would seemingly be spreading rumours about her, since in policing, “everybody cheats on their companions.” She mentioned he additionally instructed her that if she ever reported any issues, she’d seemingly get in hassle at work.
Woman says officer quickly made her uncomfortable
The 2 exchanged contact data, the lady mentioned, and Turnbull quickly began messaging her on Snapchat. The app is ready to delete messages mechanically, so whereas screenshots of a number of the pair’s textual content messages are reveals within the trial, their Snapchat message historical past just isn’t.
The girl mentioned Turnbull messaged her each day and instructed him about his psychological well being, marital points and “issues he would need to do to me if we had been alone.”
“I used to be tremendous uncomfortable,” she mentioned, including she was in a dedicated relationship then and now.
The girl instructed the court docket Turnbull messaged her on Snapchat regularly and if she didn’t reply, he would message her extra or textual content her. He would inform her she was attractive and despatched pictures of his penis at the least twice, she mentioned.
She mentioned she didn’t ship him any pictures in return.
‘I did not know what to do’
On Jan. 23, 2022, the lady mentioned, she messaged Turnbull to inform him the feedback he had been making had been inappropriate. The court docket noticed a screenshot of that message from her. She instructed the court docket that she put collectively the message with the assistance of a mentor she had confided in.
The day earlier than she despatched that message, she was injured and positioned on modified obligation at work, the lady mentioned. For a interval, most of her work was within the workplace. Whereas she had no cause to see Turnbull, he began coming into her workplace, she testified.
On a number of events, she mentioned, he would shut the door and sit subsequent to her. She described him making sexual feedback, touching her thigh with out her consent, kissing her and flattening the zipper on her pants, saying she was unable to get away from him most occasions, partly due to her damage.
“I did not know what to do,” she mentioned of 1 occasion. “I used to be simply caught.”
Over quite a lot of weeks, he continued to message her in methods she felt had been inappropriate, and would ship her “many items,” together with sweets and $112, she mentioned.
The girl mentioned she didn’t inform anybody about what was taking place past the inappropriate messages.
“I used to be a model new officer by myself … he had a ton of seniority over me,” she mentioned.
She added it is tough to explain working for the police, however “you have to watch out who you say issues to.”
She additionally mentioned Turnbull had made it clear to her that if she reported one thing, she might be reprimanded.
“I used to be frightened about my profession.”
Woman instructed fellow officer ‘I did not need this’
When she tried to ascertain boundaries, the lady mentioned, or cease replying to him, he would inform her how unhealthy his psychological well being was and discuss suicide. She would re-engage, involved for his security, she mentioned.
In March 2022, she mentioned, Turnbull repeatedly invited her over whereas his spouse was away. She mentioned she refused however he began speaking about killing himself and instructed her how a lot his youngsters wished to see her canine, so she relented and went to the home.
Whereas there, she mentioned, she discovered herself alone on a sofa with him. Then, she mentioned, Turnbull kissed her, grabbed her and pushed her into the sofa. She mentioned she could not stand up quick sufficient due to her damage, and he took off her pants and underwear.
“I stored telling him I did not need this. I wished to go residence,” she mentioned.
She mentioned he took off his pants and penetrated her along with his penis, ejaculating inside her. She mentioned he instructed her to not fear about him not carrying a condom as a result of he had had a vasectomy.
Report by woman led to inside, SIU investigations
Instantly after that occurred, she mentioned, she went residence however quickly began getting messages from him. She mentioned she instructed Turnbull she wished to be left alone when she subsequent noticed him at work in April, however he stored messaging her.
“At this level, I knew nothing was gonna cease except it was reported,” the lady mentioned, so she went to her coach officer, who instructed her they need to report it to a workers sergeant.
“I used to be terrified. I used to be frightened about my profession. I labored actually laborious to get this job. It is not simple to be a feminine police officer,” she instructed the court docket.
In the end, she made a report together with her supervisors, resulting in an inside investigation and the SIU investigation, for which she was interviewed on April 23, 2022.
Defence factors to lack of information
In her cross-examination on Wednesday, Mulcahy prompt a number of the conversations between Turnbull and the lady might not have occurred as she described.
For instance, Mulcahy mentioned, the lady didn’t inform police investigators or the SIU about him saying something about reporting points throughout their first one-on-one dialog.
Mulcahy mentioned the lady added him on Snapchat, not the opposite approach round, and prompt she had despatched him pictures of her at a piece Christmas occasion and a gender-reveal occasion, and sexted with him.
The girl mentioned she posted pictures for all her Snapchat associates to see and didn’t ship any to Turnbull instantly. She denied sexting with him.
Mulcahy additionally questioned her interpretation of sure textual content exchanges. In a single alternate that was seen by the court docket, Turnbull instructed her to “get your candy [butt]” into the workplace, utilizing a peach emoji, which generally is used to check with somebody’s behind. The defence prompt he might have been quoting his sergeant.
Screenshot textual content messages learn in court docket
Mulcahy pointed on the market aren’t any information of most of the conversations the lady alleges occurred, and famous neither Hamilton police nor the SIU seized her cellphone. The textual content messages learn in court docket had been from screenshots supplied by the lady.
The defence additionally mentioned that though a screenshot reveals the lady telling Turnbull in January his feedback had been inappropriate, that message didn’t explicitly inform him to cease messaging her or go away her alone.
The girl mentioned she did inform him that in particular person and on Snapchat.
Wednesday’s cross-examination was interrupted because the legal professionals and justice went into an in-camera session — through which members of the general public are usually not allowed — to debate a particular piece of proof.
The trial continues Thursday.
For anybody who has been sexually assaulted, there’s help out there by disaster traces and native help companies through the Ending Violence Affiliation of Canada database.
