Jian Ghomeshi will be back in court to face one charge of sexual assault on Monday, June 6 stemming from the allegiations that relate to his time at the CBC. The upcoming proceedings are expected to be quite different than the first one which ended in acquittals.
Daniel Lerner a former Crown prosecutor and now a defense lawyer in Toronto stated, "This trial is set in an entirely different context. It's going to need a different defense strategy and a different type of prosecution.", reports National Post.
Three female victims who testified said they were all in intimate relationships with the former host of Q on CBC radio. The victims who came forward stated that he briefly turned violent in incidents dating back from 2002 to 2003.
The first complainant named Linda Redgrave testified that Ghomeshi pulled her hair once in his car and once in his home without warning. Redgrave alleged that the second time, Ghomeshi punched her in the head multiple times. The second complainant Canadian actress Lucy DeCoutere alleged Ghomeshi choked and slapped her in his home and the third complainant alleged Ghomeshi squeezed her neck while kissing on a park bench in Toronto, as detailed by The Star.
Ghomeshi was one of Canada's most prominent media personalities His career came crashing to a halt in Autumn 2014. Soon after numerous women began coming forward with complains of being violently and sexually assaulted by the radio star. In March, Ghomeshi was first acquitted by Judge William Horkins on all four counts of sexual assault and one of choking to overcome resistance, according to The Globe and Mail.
The Ghomeshi case was considered one of Canada's most high-profile trials in recent memory, and it sparked a national controversy and conversation on consent and sexual assault. It prompted fresh questions over the justice system's ability to address allegations of sexual violence.
