Defence lawyer questions credibility of rape victim after conviction

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This article was published 18/05/2016 (3397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg rape victim came under fire in court Wednesday for a series of social media posts which her convicted attacker’s lawyer claims raise questions about how much she was truly impacted by the crime.

It’s not unusual for sexual assault victims to have their credibility questioned at trial, particularly in cases like this where it comes down to one person’s word against another. But it’s rare to see this type of post-conviction scrutiny occur at a sentencing hearing.

Robert Zamrykut, 25, was found guilty of the March 2014 incident, in which he forced intercourse on a young woman he initially met at a Winnipeg bar and then took to a nearby apartment building. He denied wrongdoing, but Queen’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond rejected his version of events in favour of the victim’s story.

The Crown is now seeking up to three years in prison and presented the victim’s impact statement on Wednesday. She describes suffering emotional trauma, anxiety, an inability to eat and weight loss.

That didn’t sit well with veteran defence lawyer Richard Wolson, who began reading a series of online postings the woman has apparently made in the past two years since she was attacked. Wolson said he did so reluctantly and at the urging of his client’s family, who dug them up.

“I’m not here to victimize this lady,” he told court, adding he was simply trying to point out alleged “inconsistencies” between what the victim said in her statement to the court versus her online audience. “I’m not at all critical of a lifestyle, that’s her business.”

Bond questioned whether these sorts of postings were even admissible. Crown attorney Randy Janis grudgingly admitted they were, but said it’s a question of how much weight to put on them.

In one post, Wolson said the woman wrote “I’ve come to the conclusion good decisions and Whiskey Dix will never be in the same sentence.” Wolson said there are other posts where the woman describes getting intoxicated at the bar and how “it’s a bad idea to give your number out.”

In another post last year, the woman described being thrilled by a 25-pound weight loss, saying “what a difference a year makes” and attributing it to changing her diet. Wolson questioned how the woman can blame his client for not being able to eat and losing weight, yet telling others online she was happy with the results.

“I’m not here to judge her,” Wolson said. “I raise them because of family members who read these things and asked me to raise them.”

The Crown told court Wednesday that he spoke to the victim about her posts. He said she initially did suffer weight loss of about 15-pounds following the attack, then later took the initiative towards a healthier lifestyle “months and months after.”

“I don’t think anything turns on that,” said Janis.

As for the bar posts, the victim actually works in a bar and has many friends there as well.

“That’s how she deals with some of her anxieties, by going out and socializing,” said Janis.

Zamrykut is seeking a lower term of custody than the Crown has suggested. He has no prior criminal record, has been deemed a low-risk to re-offend, has strong community support in the form of 16 letters filed Wednesday and is a father of two young children.

“He’s described as being his daughter’s hero,” said Wolson. He said it’s unfortunate community-based sentences are no longer available for sexual assault convictions based on federal legislative changes that mandate custody.

“Had there been conditional sentences available you would have seen me jumping up and down and urging the court to consider it,” said Wolson. “For this accused, a day in jail will be an eternity.”

Bond has reserved her decision until later this summer. Zamrykut remains free on bail.

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