A jury has been shown footage of a Dunedin businessman on top of a woman in bed while she says ‘‘I can’t breathe’’.
Robert Anthony Scott, 69, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday for the second day of his jury trial.
He faces 12 charges relating to one complainant: six of rape, two of indecent assault, sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and three charges of assaulting a female.
Yesterday, the jury was shown two videos the complainant took on her cellphone.
One appeared to show Scott on top of the woman while she could be heard saying ‘‘please, I can’t breathe’’ and ‘‘ouch, you’re hurting me’’.
The witness gave evidence the pair were having sex in the video.
‘‘He was on top of me and I [couldn’t] breathe — all his weight was on me,’’ she said.
‘‘He forced me to have sex with him.’’
She said she filmed the incident to prove to the defendant he had hurt her.
After watching the footage the woman broke down in tears and left the courtroom to compose herself.
In another video, she tells Scott she is not feeling well and asks ‘‘can we just do it tomorrow?’’
He then called her a ‘‘f...... whingy bitch’’.
The complainant alleged that in the video the defendant was groping her.
Crown prosecutor Craig Power asked if she consented to that.
‘‘As you can see in the video, no,’’ she replied.
The jury was also shown a photo the woman took of her thighs, which she said showed bruising from when the defendant tried to have sex with her and she refused.
‘‘He tried to spread my legs using his hands and that’s how I got those bruises,’’ the woman said.
The complainant claimed the defendant hit her thighs when he wanted to have sex with her, but counsel Fiona Guy Kidd KC stressed that allegation was raised nearly four years after the woman’s initial statement.
The complainant said Scott was hitting her legs in the video, which was why she was saying ‘‘ouch’’.
‘‘You cannot see in that video that you are being hit,’’ Ms Guy Kidd said.
‘‘That’s something, the hitting, that you have just made up.’’
The complainant denied that.
Ms Guy Kidd suggested there were other people around when the alleged rapes were happening and someone would have intervened if they heard her yelling.
The complainant could not recall the first time she was allegedly raped, something the defence suggested she would remember if she was telling the truth.
Scott argued the videos the complainant took were ‘‘a set-up’’ and any sexual activity between the pair was consensual.
He said he never assaulted the woman.
The complainant struggled to recall many details under cross-examination yesterday, and often failed to remember dates of events.
‘‘I’m really not good at remembering,’’ she said.
But she said she was sure Scott had raped her multiple times and assaulted her in different ways.
The defendant is listed in court documents as a property developer and as holding shares in car sales yard Scott’s Auto Sales and the Dunedin Casino, according to the Companies Office.
The trial continues.
SEXUAL HARM
Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.
