The Hand Job

Hnatiw’s statement, delivered on the courthouse steps, was a salient reminder that the witnesses have no legal representation in the courtroom. In both Canada and the U.S., the prosecution does not represent the witnesses , nor is it obliged to protect or prepare them.Most sexual assault complainants choose not to retain their own counsel , because ostensibly, they are not on trial. Only two of the three witnesses in Ghomeshi’s trial had their own lawyers.The third witness testified that during an event in a Toronto park, she and Ghomeshi were “making out” when “all of a sudden, I felt his hands on my shoulders, and his teeth, and then his hands were around my neck, and he was squeezing."After the alleged assault, she met Ghomeshi on a separate occasion during which she had sexual contact with him (Ghomeshi's attorneys described the incident as “a hand job”) ; however, she did not tell police about this encounter until February 5, 2016, after the trial was well underway.The witness claimed that she had thought it was irrelevant; but when Henein asked if she agreed that she had been deliberately misleading to police, she answered "yes."