North Kentville man convicted on one of four sex charges
A Supreme Court judge has convicted Darrin Philip Rouse of one of four sex-related charges he was facing.
Justice Mona Lynch found Rouse, 51, guilty of sexual touching, but not guilty to three other charges — invitation to sexual touching, invitation to sexual touching while in a position of trust, and sexual touching while in a position of trust.
Lynch said in her decision April 18 in Kentville that there was no evidence Rouse was in a position of authority over a girl he had sex with when she was 13, more than a decade ago.
She also said there was also no evidence presented at trial as to the dates for the invitation to sexual touching charge.
The victim, who is now in her 20s, said at trial this week that she met Rouse through her mother, who had met him at a bar. She testified that Rouse one day told her he had feelings for her and knew she had feelings for him, and they had sex in his vehicle.
She said she thought at the time that she loved him, and they had sex several times until the relationship ended when she was 15.
Rouse had denied the allegations. He said he knew the girl but they were never alone because his parole conditions on a sexual assault conviction didn’t allow it. He said they had no sexual relationship.
But Lynch said she didn’t find that Rouse’s testimony under direct and cross-examination was credible.
“I agree he was all over the map,” she said. “There were many inconsistencies. He was evasive, he was argumentative.”
She also said she rejected the evidence of Rouse’s surety, who she said was “tailoring her evidence to assist Mr. Rouse.”
The judge said that the victim gave her evidence “in a straightforward manner. She was very clear about details of the event.”
After the judge gave the guilty verdict on the fourth count, the victim wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue while sitting next to supporters and a worker from the Justice Department’s victim services program.
Rouse will be sentenced May 11. Defence lawyer Bob Stewart declined comment after court.
Crown attorney Mike MacKenzie said he was pleased with the verdict and accepted the judge’s decision on the other counts.
He said he would likely be seeking a sentence beyond the minimum because of Rouse’s record.
More charges stem from courtroom altercation
A couple of hours later, Rouse was in Kentville provincial court, in the same building, for a bail hearing on charges resulting from an incident during a break in the trial April 17.
It was a chaotic morning at court as Rouse was pepper-sprayed after squaring off against deputy sheriffs following an apparent threat.
Rouse yelled out and groaned in discomfort after being sprayed in the hallway of the courthouse. The deputies, one of whose eyes were watering, guided a handcuffed Rouse to a drinking fountain so he could flush out his eyes, his discomfort apparent.
He was later taken down to the holding cells and the Nova Scotia Supreme Court trial was adjourned until the afternoon.
The incident started a few minutes after Rouse was removed from court after a verbal altercation with the prosecutor and judge.
He was talking to his surety in a discussion that rapidly got heated and told her to “shut up” and go home before uttering what appeared to be a threat to her.
A deputy sheriff told Rouse to be quiet.
“I won’t be,” he retorted, and the sheriff told him he was under arrest and asked him to turn around.
Rouse asked for what, said he didn’t threaten anyone, and started walking away as a second deputy arrived. He didn’t stop for them, and after they went around a corner, Rouse was heard to say something akin to he would “take them both on.”
One person in the hallway said Rouse put his hands in front of him and squared off against the deputies.
That’s when the spray was used and the yelling started.
On the stand
Rouse, who got into two verbal altercations with the Crown attorney April 16, had been testifying in his own defence April 17 on two charges of sexual interference with a young person while in a position of trust, and one each of sexual touching and invitation to sexual touching.
Things went poorly during his testimony.
When Crown attorney Mike MacKenzie objected to a response from Rouse to defence lawyer Robert Stewart, calling it hearsay evidence, the morning started to take a turn. Justice Lynch agreed with MacKenzie and Rouse became frustrated.
When Lynch asked if Rouse wanted to take a break, he said “Do I get to speak? . . . You’re trying to shut me down. You asked me to tell my story and now you won’t let me.”
The judge then told Rouse to take a break and adjourned court while telling Stewart to speak to his client.
On the way out of the courtroom, Rouse called it a “kangaroo court.”
He eventually came back in and continued to testify, but when it was time for MacKenzie’s crossexamination, things became heated again.
When Rouse tried to talk over MacKenzie about something he hadn’t been asked, Lynch broke in again, saying his name four times.
“Mr. Rouse, are you hearing me speak? He didn’t ask you about that. Answer the questions he asks, OK? Do you understand?”
“So I’m not allowed to elaborate?” Rouse replied.
The judge told him he could only elaborate on the question that was asked, and she said what he was trying to talk about has not been asked.
The testimony went on for another three minutes, with Rouse remaining composed. But then he answered a question with a comment that wasn’t related.
“That’s not what I asked you,” MacKenzie said.
“Why won’t you allow me to speak? Why won’t you allow me to finish and speak to the question?” Rouse said, becoming agitated. “Is this a kangaroo court or what?”
“Mr. Rouse,” the judge said, trying to break in.
“Come on, people. I’m trying to give my evidence here, and I’m getting cut off every time I go to say something. So, this is a kangaroo court as far as I’m concerned,” Rouse said, before addressing the judge with “and you’re allowing him to do it.”
MacKenzie tried to ask his question again but Rouse said, “I’m done talking to you. I’m out. I want a break . . . we’re going to get some ground rules here and I’m not going to listen to him basically try to manipulate what I said.”
At that point, Lynch interrupted. “Let’s just be clear, Mr. Rouse, who makes the rules here: I do.”
“You can make the rules all you want. You want to put me downstairs (in cells)? Because that’s not going to change anything,” he responded.
She said his name one more time and he interrupted her again, at which point she said it loudly one last time and told a deputy to remove Rouse from the courtroom.
As Rouse was leaving, Lynch reminded him that he was in the middle of giving evidence and couldn’t talk to anybody about it.
“Yeah, well, I’m gonna talk to everybody. You’re a half-assed judge,” he replied.
The complainant testified April 16 she had a two-year sexual relationship with Rouse that started when she was 13.
Rouse had testified in his direct evidence April 17 that he was in jail for sexual assault in the year the complainant and her mother said they first met him, but that after they did meet, he told the mother about his conviction and the terms of his parole, which included having no one-on-one contact with females under the age of 16.
He denied ever having sex with the complainant.
The complainant’s mother testified she had a short fling with Rouse after they first met in a bar, and they later became friends.
The daughter alleged her relationship started later, the court heard.
Rouse said he did meet the mother in a bar, but there was no fling or sexual relationship.
“I took notice of her because a man touched her ass, and she turned around and punched him in the face,” he testified. “I took an interest in her and started up a conversation.”
He also denied the complainant’s allegations that he had attended her birthday parties, and said he was never alone with her at his home.
Testimony continues
A contrite Rouse returned to court at 2 p.m. and apologized for his behaviour in the morning. There were two extra deputy sheriffs in the courtroom, and Rouse was flanked by a Kentville police officer and a jailer from the holding cells.
“I apologize. This is your court. I disrespected it,” Rouse told Lynch, adding that he had some issues and doesn’t fully understand the court process.
“I certainly apologize. I did not mean to disrespect you or the Crown.”
Lynch said she accepted his apology, and reminded him when he took the stand that he was to answer only the questions asked, and not ask questions himself.
But, it wasn’t long before Rouse became agitated again. MacKenzie was asking him about his use of illegal drugs while under release conditions and his testimony at a bail review hearing.
“What does that have to do with this?” Rouse asked after answering the question.
“Mr. Rouse, you’re not going to ask questions. We’ve been through that,” the judge said.
Rouse later asked MacKenzie what he was trying to suggest.
“Mr. Rouse, you don’t ask questions. You don’t ask questions. You’re there to answer questions. He asks questions,” the judge said.
MacKenzie later played part of the audio recording of Rouse’s bail review hearing, and things became heated again.
MacKenzie tried to ask a question four times while Rouse talked over him, and when MacKenzie said to look at him, Rouse replied, “I don’t want to look at you. You’re the last person I want to look at.”
Rouse was told several times to answer the questions, and at one point responded loudly to MacKenzie, “none of your damn business” when he asked what he was doing in Mahone Bay last weekend.
After a few more admonishments from the judge to stop interrupting, the cross-examination concluded.
Released from custody
Rouse left court with the police officer to be interviewed about the incident from that morning. He was being held in custody overnight until an appearance in Kentville provincial court April 18 on charges of causing a disturbance, uttering threats, assaulting a deputy sheriff, resisting arrest and breach of a court recognizance.
Rouse was released following a bail hearing. The evidence presented at the hearing before Judge Ronda van der Hoek can’t be published.
Rouse was released on the same conditions that he had on a Supreme Court undertaking for matters he was being tried on, although the bail being offered by two sureties was increased from $1,500 to $1,750 each.
Rouse was charged with uttering threats, resisting arrest, assaulting a peace officer, causing a disturbance and breach of probation after an incident in the lobby during a break in his Supreme Court trial on sex charges in Kentville.
He is due back in court May 8 to enter a plea on the new charges.