Jury retires in alleged rape trial

Thursday 16 November 2017

The 12 members of the jury have retired to consider their verdict in the trial of a 45-year-old man who is accused of raping a 40-year-old woman.

Peter John Brewer is pleading not guilty to one count of rape and is facing a jury trial in Royal Court this week.

This morning, Crown Advocate Conrad Yates summed up the prosecution case for the jury. Referring to the history between Mr Brewer and the alleged victim - the two had met previously and after not speaking for some time, got back in touch in 2016 - he said: "The Crown says you can be sure that this background information shows that the defendant had a romantic interest which persisted despite those falling-outs they had over the years."

He told the jury that the complainant had been consistent in her evidence, "She says she has little memories of what happened in the house due to her alcohol consumption." He continued saying that two guests at the party didn’t see any attention which implied that the hugging and kissing witnessed by another must have taken place later on in the evening, when the alleged victim had continued to drink, and would have become more intoxicated.

He added: "Mr Brewer is adamant that (the complainant) wasn’t drunk, she was just merry. In fact he recalls that he kept referring to her as being in good spirits. (...) The Crown says he is seeking to minimise his involvement in what is alleged. Despite all the evidence before you, he does not accept that the alleged victim was drunk. He does this because he knows that if not, his behaviour towards her is reprehensible. (...) Her intoxication at that time is something you can be sure of."

The Crown Advocate said that the victim  was in an "extremely vulnerable position" and "physically incapacitated" when the alleged rape took place and that she had done nothing to encourage Mr Brewer in the bedroom. "The Crown's case is that, if you believe her evidence as you should, then Mr Brewer, who was sober at the time, would have known she wasn’t consenting. (...) By the time sober Brewer went to her bed, nothing was going to stop him from having sex with her."

Advocate Sarah Dale then addressed the jury in defence of Mr Brewer. She opened her speech by saying, "The dispute centers around the issue of consent. The prosecution invites you to believe that Mr Brewer took advantage of (the complainant). However Mr Brewer recalls that (the complainant) was an active participant and that he had every reason to believe she was consenting."

The defence advocate told the jury that the alleged victim's evidence was unreliable, "due to her ulterior motives in bringing the allegation and her heavily impaired memory due to intoxication. (...) Any evidence she has given is heavily undermined by the fact she has lied and by the fact she has a tendency to over react in situations."

She later added: "Just because somebody consents to sex when they are intoxicated does not make it rape. Drunk consent is still consent. (...) She simply can’t accept responsibility for what she does when she is intoxicated."

Advocate Dale then told the jury that the fact no semen was found on the alleged victim was inconsistent with her version of events.

She said that the fact Mr Brewer went to bed first showed that he wanted to get some rest. She continued, saying that he wouldn't have taken the risk of the complainant shouting out or fighting back because it would have awoken the whole household. "I suggest that the idea he would rape is completely implausible, particularly when his judgement wasn’t impaired by intoxication."

She urged the jury to acquit Mr Brewer saying that they had to be sure beyond reasonable doubt that he was guilty of rape in order to convict him.

The nine women and three men sitting on the jury have now retired to consider their verdict.