It was a full home in an Oshawa courtroom on Wednesday as attorneys made their closing submissions in a violent Whitby assault trial. Anthony Doiron-Francis is dealing with charges of tried homicide and aggravated sexual assault after he was accused of attacking a Whitby woman whereas she was out for a stroll in the summertime of 2020.
Dozens of individuals got here to indicate their help for the sufferer on one of many remaining days of the trial. With individuals holding indicators like ‘Be positive’ and ‘We stand with you,’ the sufferer held again tears as she realized what number of strangers got here to help her in the course of the case.
Within the closing arguments, defence counsel Marco Sciarra maintained the accused did assault the 50-year-old woman, however says it was as a result of he was caught taking video of the sufferer from behind. Sciarra says his consumer then obtained right into a struggle with the sufferer, and that’s the place he misplaced his cellphone within the tussle. However the defence rejects the declare by the Crown legal professional that Doiron-Francis sexually assaulted her and tried to kill her.
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“There’s no independent evidence that a rape ever occurred,” Sciarra stated.
Earlier within the trial the accused stated the sufferer’s pants had been taken off throughout a wrestle, exposing her privates.
The defence workforce says this shouldn’t be thought-about sexual assault.
“If somebody’s privates are exposed during an assault, I would submit it doesn’t account to a sexual assault,” Sciarra stated.
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Doiron-Francis says issues obtained out of hand on that day in July 2020. On July 28, surveillance video confirmed him following the sufferer for over two hours. On the stand, the suspect stated he was making an attempt to movie her together with his cellphone to feed his “perverse porn addiction.” When he was caught, Doiron-Francis admitted he hit her a number of occasions, making an attempt to maintain her quiet.
The Crown claims her accidents had been as a result of suspect making an attempt and failing to rape her — one thing Sciarra claims isn’t confirmed.
“Their theory is that he got to the point that he intended to kill her, because he couldn’t complete the rape,” he stated.
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“It’s not supported by any of the evidence.”
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The accused claimed in his personal testimony that the sufferer caught him and that’s when he started hitting her. He stated it was as a result of he didn’t need to be caught with the issues on his cellphone.
The wrestle brought about them to tumble to the creek beneath because the accused says he misplaced his footing and grabbed the girl by the again of her pants — taking her with him. Doiron-Francis says they obtained in a struggle, and his full physique weight got here down on her on the backside of a slight incline. After the incident, the sufferer was discovered with no pants on.
Though there wasn’t any conclusive proof of a rape, the Crown argues there was intention. Sciarra claims it simply wasn’t potential.
“The unknown location, terrain, losing the shoes — there’s no plan to execute that type of sexual assault. This court cannot find beyond reasonable doubt that it’s proven he intended to rape her,” Sciarra stated.
The sufferer was left with life-altering accidents, half hanging in a creek mattress, bare from the waist down. She wasn’t situated till the following day after police discovered her throughout a search. She had a number of accidents and was declared medically lifeless en path to the trauma centre.
Earlier within the trial, the decide heard from Dr. Aaron Nauth at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. He was working within the ER on the time of her admission. He says there have been intensive accidents throughout her physique, together with a number of facial fractures, a number of breaks to the jaw, a basal cranium fracture, bleeding across the mind, and different quite a few scrapes, bruises and lacerations throughout her physique. Nauth stated her accidents had been so extreme they may solely come from both a nasty automobile accident or somebody who was hit within the face a number of occasions with an object.
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Crown Lawyer Tammy Holland says the proof offered by the defence doesn’t describe what truly occurred.
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“The accused assertions and testimony he did not attempt to kill or sexually assault her are not supported by medical evidence, the admission to his friend or the physical evidence,” Holland stated.
With respect to the declare that Doiron-Francis has a porn dependancy, Holland stated there was no proof of a video of the sufferer discovered on his cellphone or laptop. And in a dialog together with his buddy, Doiron-Francis admitted to being mad, she stated.
“He told his friend Tyler he was mad, walked up behind her and hit her,” she stated.
“The accused said nothing to his friend about her confronting him first.”
The Crown challenged the concept he wished to take a video because the accused was seen following her, even quickening his tempo after stalking her for blocks till darkness fell.
“It makes no sense he would follow her until it gets dark out to do it,” Holland stated.
“All of this evidence that I’ve referred to was an attempt to explain why he hit this woman, got her into the wooded area and explain why her pants were down.”
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Through the trial, the court docket heard that he additionally performed a number of Google searches shortly after the incident. The suspect looked for objects comparable to “Whitby News,” “person of interest,” “when your face is wanted is that bad?,” “how to know if your phone is being tracked” and different searches referring to tried homicide. Holland stated in her remaining remarks that though the suspect says he lifted her head out of the water to verify she would survive, he carried out a number of actions to stop her from getting assist.
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“The extreme nature of her injuries that were life-threatening. The location where she was found, without a purse, keys and cellphone. He intended to kill her and believed that he had.”
The decide will now check out each tales to come back to a verdict. A call isn’t anticipated till the brand new 12 months.
© 2023 Ontario Chronicle, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
