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Judge adjourns doctor's trial for alleged sex assault on teen

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 09/21/2012 5:41 PM

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Walid Abdelhamid (WINNIPEG POLICE SERVICE)

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The fate of a former Winnipeg doctor accused of sexually assaulting a teen patient has been put on hold.

Walid Abdelhamid’s three-week trial was set to end Friday with closing arguments and potentially a verdict from the judge hearing the case. Instead, lawyers requested more time to prepare submissions and adjourned until Dec. 10.

Abdelhamid, 32, was working at Health Sciences Centre in 2009 when it is alleged he twice assaulted the then-15-year-old boy, who had suffered a serious back injury while riding a motorbike.

The now-18-year-old told court he awoke twice in the middle of the night to find Abdelhamid fondling him. Both incidents occurred when he was immobilized and being dosed with morphine for pain.

A videotaped police interview was taken in his hospital room hours after the alleged attacks. A copy of the statement was played in court and shows the boy in obvious physical discomfort hooked up to tubes as he awaits surgery.

A key issue at trial is the youth’s state of mind as a result of being medicated. Defence lawyer Marty Minuk has repeatedly suggested the young man may have been too high to comprehend what happened. But he denied that was the case, saying he knew exactly what was going on.

Abdelhamid was released on bail following his arrest only to flee the country and end up in Greece. He was arrested and deported back to Canada in May 2011 and has remained in custody since.

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