A man from Melbourne, Victoria, has been accused of raping a woman at his party. His case trial has begun, having pleaded not guilty in two courts. This incident happened in January 2024. The identity or the person is not revealed. Prosecutors argue that the accused man raped a woman during his house party and tried to cover it up.
Judge Warns Jury Not to Research Case
On the first day of the man’s County Court trial on Monday, Judge Greg Lyon sternly warned jurors not to discuss the case with outsiders. “Keep it to yourselves,” Judge Lyon told them. “Don’t discuss the case itself and don’t discuss the personalities involved.” The judge warned that he would not put up with smart excuses from any juror doing research about the accused man on the internet.
“I am not one to threaten juries,” he said. “If it comes to my attention that any member of this panel has not followed the instructions that I give, I will refer the matter to the Juries Commissioner. I will also refer it to the Director of Public Prosecutions for criminal investigation.”
Prosecutor Says Man Used Deception
Crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams, in his opening speech, said the accused deceitfully rapes the victim. On January 13, 2024, the man was drinking at his house. According to McWilliams, the man’s girlfriend, a male friend, and the woman at the centre of the incident were there. McWilliams said the male friend and the woman went into a bedroom and had intercourse with consent. After that, the man took an Uber home.
The man is accused of entering the woman’s bedroom without her knowledge early January 14. It is alleged that he climbed into bed with the woman and raped her. The room was very dark, and the woman couldn’t make out the accused’s face at first. McWilliams said the accused man kept saying he was his friend. But the woman started to think it was not him. The woman told him to stop, but he did not.
According to McWilliams, she asked him several times to let her go, but he didn’t obey, and he forcibly held her down while he kept entering her vagina with his fingers. The local prosecutors state that the suspect was the one who went out of the room and afterwards said that he hadn’t sexually assaulted the woman. Besides that, he made another false statement saying that his friend was in the house when the incident took place.
The following day, the court heard that the accused man sent a message to his friend saying: “Just say you came into the woman’s room when your Uber cancelled. I just want to make sure the woman’s lies don’t mess us up.” To support his story, the accused man created fake timestamps in an Uber receipt and instructed his friend to share it with others, the court heard.
The woman went to the police days later. The accused man was charged in mid-2024. Defence lawyer David Hallowes SC said his client denied raping the woman or climbing into her bed. The man did, however, admit to creating a fake Uber receipt. Might it just be a young man panicking when allegations are being made about something that he didn’t do, Hallowes said.
Jury Must Deliver Unanimous Verdict
Hallowes told the jury it was not a straightforward case. He told them to concentrate on the evidence. It will be up to twelve jurors to make that decision. They will be required to present unanimous verdicts as to whether he is guilty or not guilty. The group of people were selected from a pool of approximately 50 individuals. They were informed that if they could not be impartial, in case they knew the people involved or found the evidence upsetting, they could decide not to be part of the trial. The trial is ongoing.
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