Desjourdy trial hears closing arguments
Posted Feb 12, 2013 05:41:52 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA, Ont. – The trial of an Ottawa police officer charged with sexual assault in a cell block strip search has resumed.
Police Sergeant Steven Desjourdy has pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual assault, related to the strip search of an Ottawa woman in 2008.
A surveillance video shows Desjourdy cutting the bra and shirt of a woman, who was arrested for public intoxication.
The woman, whose name is now protected by a publication ban, kicked Desjourdy’s female colleague and was “grounded” by two male officers.
It’s alleged the woman was then abandoned, partially naked in a cell for three hours before she was given a disposable “blue suit.”
Desjourdy maintains he cut off the woman’s shirt and bra because he needed to clearly search her upper body and keep her from harming herself.
The Crown says Desjourdy’s actions were intended to humiliate and punish the woman after she injured his fellow officer.
As he played the surveillance tape, the Crown urged the judge to look at the victim’s body, arguing there was no reason to cut off her clothes because she wasn’t struggling.
Closing arguments were interrupted by the judge, who asked why the Crown didn’t call in an expert to back up that claim.
The Crown re-iterated that it was an act meant to humiliate the woman because she was allegedly topless for three hours, without a cover up.
He also argued there was no evidence to support the idea she was suicidal and therefore no reason to cut her bra and shirt.
Desjourdy sat in the front of the court room, scratching down notes as the Crown spoke.
Both the Crown and defence have four hours to present final submissions. The trial’s closing arguments wrapped, Tuesday afternoon, and will resume on Wednesday.
