Pushed down stairs, head hit, woman tells Brazeau trial
Gatineau, Que. • Suspended Senator Patrick Brazeau pushed a woman down stairs and yelled at her to leave his home in an alleged 2013 sex assault, a Gatineau court heard Monday.
The woman, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, described the alleged Feb. 7, 2013, incident in painstaking detail during her testimony on the trial’s first day.
Mr. Brazeau, 40, has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and sexual assault, which led to him being booted from the Conservative caucus.
The woman took the stand after a Gatineau police officer showed the court photos of her alleged injuries — bruises on her arms and legs, and scratches on her back.
Testifying through a translator, she said Mr. Brazeau had been increasingly aggressive the night of Feb. 6.
He became agitated while drinking martinis and another drink mixed with orange juice, anticipating a television news report that was about to air.
That night, CTV News broadcast a story saying he had claimed an aboriginal exemption from taxes by using his former father-in-law’s address.
She said after the story aired, Mr. Brazeau grew angrier after receiving a Facebook message from an exboyfriend of hers.
“He approached it as if it was my fault. At that point, he said he’s never had my support,” she said, adding she went to bed after that.
The next morning, the argument continued and Mr. Brazeau told her to leave, she said.
She went upstairs to change out of her pyjamas. She got her pants on, but didn’t have time to put on her bra and sweater before Mr. Brazeau again told her to leave, she said.
She testified he started yelling at her to leave and pushed her to the ground, toward the stairs.
“The reaction I had was to grab on to the railing,” she said. But she said she fell down every step until she reached the landing. “He started telling me that I have to leave his house, that I have to leave his country,” she said.
She said Brazeau grabbed her head and hit it against the wall. He pulled down her pants and attempted to penetrate her with his finger. He also grabbed her left breast.
She said after she ended up on her hands and knees further down the stairs, Mr. Brazeau attempted to choke her. He again tried to penetrate her with his finger.
She asked him for more time to leave the house because she had nowhere to go, but he still told her to leave immediately, she told the court.
Before the woman’s testimony, the Crown asked if she wanted the media and public excluded from the courtroom. She said yes, if possible, because she was “a bit nervous” and the testimony touches on her personal life.
After a short recess, Judge Valmont Beaulieu dismissed her request.
Earlier Monday, Gatineau police crime scene investigator Patrick Quinn showed the court photos he took of the woman’s injuries and the residence. One photograph was of broken banisters on stairs, another showed a ripped photo on the kitchen counter of Mr. Brazeau, the woman and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The incident led to Mr. Brazeau’s ouster from the Conservative caucus. At the time, Mr. Harper, who had appointed him to the Senate in 2008, called the allegations “appalling and disappointing.”
The Senate later voted to suspend Mr. Brazeau along with senators Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin over allegedly improper housing expense claims. Mr. Brazeau faces fraud and breach of trust charges for allegedly claiming $49,000 in improper Senate expenses.
The reaction I had was to| grab on to the railing