Stronach Lawyer Calls Complainant a ‘Storyteller’ in Sex Assault Trial

WARNING: This story references sexual assault allegations and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

The lawyer for Frank Stronach accused one of the complainants in his sexual assault trial of being a “storyteller,” as she challenged the woman’s memory of the events relating to the alleged attack.

“You have filled in facts and details and I’m going to suggest to you … that you are a storyteller,” Leora Shemesh said during cross-examination of the woman. “And that you have told a story in this courtroom and continue to tell a story to various media outlets for public consumption.”

The complainant countered that she doesn’t want any attention on herself and has not sought any attention.

“I know what he did to me,” the woman said.

The complainant said that some of the other details about the night are not important.

“What he did to me is important.”

On the second day of cross-examination, Shemesh continued to zero in on what she suggested were inconsistencies in what the complainant has told court and previous statements she had made.

The woman, who had been employed by Stronach and whose identity is protected by a publication ban, alleged she was sexually assaulted by Stronach in 1981 in a Toronto condo.

Stronach facing 12 charges

She was the first of the complainants to testify, though all are expected to testify during the trial.

Stronach, 93, faces a total of 12 charges, including sexual assault and forcible confinement. Two of the counts, rape and attempted rape, are considered historical charges as they were abolished when the Criminal Code was amended in 1983 to create the offence of sexual assault.

The judge-alone trial is being overseen by Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy. Stronach is also set to face a separate trial in Newmarket, Ont., later this year after the case was split into two proceedings.

The allegations by seven women in Toronto span the period between 1977 and 1990, with one specified as having happened in suburban Scarborough.

Stronach has denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The woman told court on Thursday that Stronach had sexually assaulted her on a dance floor after she had met two co-workers at his Toronto restaurant to celebrate her birthday.

She said she did not get drunk, but she couldn’t remember the block of time between being on the dance floor and celebrating with her friends. She recalled that she felt “very woozy” and discombobulated on the dance floor with Stronach.

The woman said that when she resisted Stronach on the dance floor, he shoved her into a booth, where he assaulted again. Her next memory after that, she said, was waking up, lying on her back and seeing her face in a dimly lit mirror above her, and realizing she was “being raped” by Stronach. The rape, she said, occurred in a downtown Toronto condo.

Lawyers question specifics of alleged assault

But Shemesh said the woman has been “evolving” her narrative of the events over the years and suggested her memory has improved with other details since her statement to police in 2015.

The complainant said she agreed her memory of the events has improved since then and that she was dealing with a lot of stresses that year.

Shemesh also suggested the complainant never worked for Stronach and that no one connected to where she said she worked recalled her. She also said that no one from where she said she worked has indicated they ever took the complainant to Rooney’s Restaurant.

Shemesh also grilled the woman on the specifics of the alleged sexual assault on the dance floor.

The complainant has said that while on the dance floor, Stronach put his fingers in her vagina. She said she believed he did this by hiking up the dress she wore, poking a hole in her pantyhose and then moving her underwear to the side.

But Shemesh countered that “the mechanics” of what she described is impossible. Shemesh noted how the woman had testified that her body was limp at the time and that she was unable to move as Stronach held her up and assaulted her.

Shemesh said that with Stronach’s arms around her, he’d have to find “another arm” to pull up her dress, move her underwear aside and poke a hole in her nylons, all the while holding her up.

But the complainant repeatedly insisted that Stronach did assault her in the way she described.

Shemesh also questioned why, in previous police statements, media interviews and legal proceedings the woman had said that the alleged attack occurred in 1980, not 1981.

The complainant said she had told police it was either 1980 or 1981 but that she was now “90 per cent sure” the alleged attack occurred on 1981.

The trial resumes Tuesday.