Complainant accuses Tony Humby’s lawyer of ‘targeting’ him during intense questioning
CBC
WARNING: This article contains details of alleged sexual abuse.
A young man who says he was repeatedly abused by Tony Humby took issue with defence lawyer Mark Gruchy’s choice of words during a heated cross-examination on Thursday.
The man — who cannot be identified because of a publication ban — was on the stand for the second day in a row, and grew tired of repeated questions from the defence on a number of subjects.
His frustration reached a boiling point when Gruchy repeatedly used the phrase “having sex” to describe the alleged interactions between the complainant and Humby.
“Obviously I’m not having sex with the fella. I’m getting molested. I’m getting raped,” the young man interjected.
Gruchy then asked him if he actually remembers the incidents, given the complainant has a history of drug abuse.
“Of course I have memories. How could you not remember all this?” he snapped back. “This took away my dignity. This took my image … It took a big part of my life. It made me feel totally different about myself. Who I am. What I was.”
Moments before the exchange, Gruchy asked repeated questions about why he described the order of events one way to the court, but a different way to police in interviews two years earlier.
“I don’t remember. I don’t remember. I don’t remember. I feel like you’re targeting me right now. I feel like I’m just trying to tell my side of the story and you’re just targeting me … It’s hard to talk about. Who the hell wants to sit there and talk about getting molested?”
Crown prosecutor Deidre Badcock objected to the lines of questioning on multiple occasions, causing delays as the court muted the witness — who is testifying virtually from jail — to debate the merits of the questions.
Each time, Judge Rolf Pritchard allowed Gruchy to return to his line of questioning.
Gruchy insisted the questions were important, and told the complainant he was giving him every opportunity to answer.
The young man grew more and more frustrated throughout the morning. He turned down offers to break and review his prior statements to police, stating he just wanted to get his testimony over with.
“How long is this going to take? I don’t want to be here anymore,” he said at one point. Nobody answered.
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