Lawyers talk credibility in closing statements of fire chief’s trial

Credibility of the witnesses was a key theme when Crown and defence counsels delivered closing arguments Tuesday in the trial for a former chief of the Fort St. James fire department accused of sexually assaulting three female volunteers. Arguing on behalf of Robert Harold Bennett, defence lawyer Jason Tarnow contended complainants Kirsten Rudolph, Lisa Button and Joy Reierson “concocted cruelly and callously” a series of allegations out of frustration with the municipality’s apparent inaction over his drunken behaviour.

Crown prosecutor Cheryl Tobias, in turn, argued Bennett is the one who should not be believed, saying he was evasive on a number of points when he took the stand to testify and cast doubt on his insistence alcohol never posed a problem when it came to his memory.

Bennett was a drunk whose “behaviour was not becoming a person in a leadership position,” Tarnow conceded but he asked the jury to look past his often sexually-suggestive language and gestures and focus on whether he truly committed the acts alleged against him.

He said Bennett had turned to alcohol as a crutch to deal with the impact of increasing demands on the job, the complicated pregnancy of his wife and the suicide of his sister.

It translated into deteriorating job performance at the fire department, Tarnow said, and it bothered the other members to the point complaints were made to the District of Fort St. James.

“However, what really bothered and I say angered some of the members, was the perceived lack of action by the District to effectively curtail Mr. Bennett’s drinking problems,” Tarnow continued.

“In their minds, the District had not done enough.”

Then, on the evening of July 18, 2013, a drunk and obnoxious Bennett walked into the common room at the main fire hall and, according to Tarnow’s version of the event, began bothering Rudolph, pulling on her ponytail, removing her ball cap and poking her sides before she finally had enough and two other firefighters told him to knock it off.

He said the incident presented Rudolph with the “perfect opportunity” to finally get rid of Bennett and, in the process, she lied when she claimed Bennett reached around to grope her breasts.

On that note, Tarnow made much of testimony from RCMP Cst. James Potyok who testified Rudolph told him Bennett kept his hands a “healthy foot” away from her chest as he made squeezing motions when she gave her story to police the next day.

Told that was not enough to warrant a criminal charge, only a complaint of workplace sexual harassment, Tarnow argued Rudolph went on to “juice up” her story over the following days and pressured Button and Reierson into making similar false allegations.

Tarnow went on to detail a lengthy series of discrepancies between the trio’s testimony while on the stand and the statements they made to police and during a previous trial on the matter.

In contrast, Tarnow said Bennett gave his evidence in a “very straight-forward, matter-of-fact way” and conceded he had been drinking too much and acting completely out of line but “never waivered one bit” on whether he sexually assaulted the three.

“He denied it outright,” Tarnow said and added there “really is no comparison” when putting his testimony up against that of the three women.

Tobias, in turn, presented a different view outlining a pattern of increasingly brazen behaviour by Bennett that began with the rude and vulgar comments and escalated to the point where he twice reached inside the shirt of one of the women to grab her breast and try to force himself on another.

As to Tarnow’s series of discrepancies. Tobias suggested the jury should focus on the essence of the allegations over the details which she said would inevitably become “muddled” over time.

She went on to say Bennett was evasive when answering questions during cross examination.

Arguing on behalf of Robert Harold Bennett, defence lawyer Jason Tarnow contended complainants Kirsten Rudolph, Lisa Button and Joy Reierson “concocted cruelly and callously” a series of allegations out of frustration with the municipality’s apparent inaction over his drunken behaviour.

In particular, Tobias argued Bennett failed to give clear answers on why he chose to bother Rudolph “because he did not want to say why.”

Similarly, Tobias dismissed Bennett’s reason for why he wanted to meet with Reierson in the fire halls’ radio room on the evening of April 4, 2013. Bennett said he wanted to discuss challenges Reierson had as secretary-treasurer of the department’s charitable wing.

But Tobias noted he had not been involved in the charity side for years and was too drunk to attend an officers meeting earlier in the evening to talk about training even though that his job.

Tobias said Bennett followed up a denial that he locked the room’s door with an evasive answer saying that “maybe” it was self locking. As the fire chief he should know either way, Tobias implied.

Reierson testified Bennett had tried to force himself on her while in the room.

On why the women did not come forward with the allegations sooner, Tobias said many of the incidents occurred away from witnesses and the women doubted their word would be believed against that of such a highly-regarded member of the Fort St. James community.

It’s expected the jury will begin deliberations this after B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes has delivered her final comments on how members should approach the evidence.