Accused denies rape of Wismar Hospital nurse
The prosecution yesterday closed its case against Wesley Carlos Payne, who is on trial for the alleged rape of a nurse at the Wismar Hospital in Linden.
He is accused of sexually penetrating the woman without her consent on September 10, 2008.
The unrepresented Payne, called “Piggy,” when called upon to lead his defence, opted to do so in sworn testimony from the witness box, during which he professed his innocence.
His story is that he is being victimized by the police, whom he said trumped-up the charge against him.
“I don’t know where this charge come from. I didn’t do this,” the accused told the court.
The case continues this morning at the High Court in Georgetown, before Justice Navindra Singh and a 12-member mixed jury.
On Wednesday, at the beginning of the trial, which is being heard in open court, the victim recalled the attack. She said she reported for duty on the night in question and heard a knocking on the door of the casualty ward, where she was with another female colleague and two patients.
Believing it to be a patient seeking medical attention, the nurse said she proceeded to open the door and was greeted by a man who was wearing no shirt and had his face concealed. She said she immediately tried to close the door, but was overpowered by the man, who forced his way in.
The court heard from the nurse that the man, who had an object concealed under a jersey in his hand, ordered her and her colleague to another ward, where he placed them to lie face down on the floor, before raping her.
She said that apart from herself, colleague and the two patients, no one else was in the hospital at the time.
During their testimonies, both nurses said that they saw only the perpetrator’s eyes.
They, however, each remained adamant that they knew his voice very well. As the accused spoke in court, the women said they were positive that it was the same person who had confronted them at the hospital.
In their respective testimonies, the women also said that the shirtless man who attacked them, had a number of black spots on his chest, which looked like dried sores.
Former police officer Simon Benjamin, who recalled questioning the shirtless man after his arrest, had also testified seeing black spots on Payne’s chest, which he too said, appeared to be dried sores.
According to the caution statement of the accused, which was admitted in evidence, he had told the police that another nurse, who had a grievance with the victim, wanted her to be raped and promised him to write off a $20,000 debt that he owed if he carried out the crime.
Benjamin, however, said that investigations into Payne’s story found that his claim had no merit. The accused has argued that he never gave the police a statement.
The state’s case is being presented by prosecutors Siand Dhurjon and Tuanna Hardy.