David Wesley Bobbitt leaving the Penticton courthouse in June, 2014.
Image Credit: Global Okanagan (with permission)
February 18, 2015 - 1:51 PM
KELOWNA – An ex-girlfriend who says she too was sexually abused by David Wesley Bobbitt is not credible, according to defence lawyer James Pennington.
On Wednesday morning Bobbitt’s sentencing reconvened in Kelowna Supreme Court after a seven month break. Since starting June 23, the focus has been to determine if Bobbitt, who pleaded guilty to taking a 22-year-old Penticton woman hostage, beating her with a hammer and sexually assaulting her in 2011, is a dangerous offender who should receive a longer sentence.
Crown prosecutors Debra Drissell and Nashina Devji have called to the stand several witnesses, including ex-girlfriends, victims’ family members, doctors and RCMP.
One of the witnesses is an ex-girlfriend of Bobbitt who says she was raped by him in 2007. According to testimony from last summer, Bobbitt forced himself on her, covered her face to keep her from screaming, and raped her. In a police interview played for the court, Bobbitt claims she attacked him and that he is not a violent person.
On Wednesday, Justice Peter Rogers heard how on Feb. 20, 2007 a server at Aloha Charlie’s restaurant in Penticton was approached by the woman who whispered that she had been raped and asked her to call 911. Crown prosecutor Devji says the reason the woman did not then wait for police to arrive is because Bobbitt was nearby and she was afraid of him. She eventually left with him in a taxi and went to a friend’s house.
During the subsequent investigation, police found marks on her throat, bruising to her face, blood stains on the sheets of Bobbitt’s bed and genital injuries.
Defence lawyer Pennington says despite the evidence there is still reasonable doubt Bobbitt committed a crime and that he does not deserve dangerous offender status.
“The crown has not proven these allegations… (The witness') credibility is a huge factor and she has no credibility. She should not be believed,” he said. “It’s obvious that the police… had some misgivings about (her) credibility. When she came into the detachment to give her statement a couple days after the incident… (the officer) makes great pains to intervene in the middle of the interview and say to (her) 'look, you and I have had a lot of dealings in the past which have not born fruit. You haven’t been forthcoming and before I commit a bunch of resources… I need to know what you are about to tell us is the truth'. That is extraordinary except with a witness with credibility issues.”
Last summer Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe, a clinical forensic psychiatrist, testified Bobbitt is a psychopath who gets pleasure from inflicting suffering on his victims.
The hearing is expected to take two days.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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