Testimony of alleged victims of doctor can be used as corroboration

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This article was published 19/07/2023 (780 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE testimony of five women who say they were sexually assaulted by a Manitoba doctor can be used to corroborate each other’s evidence, a judge has ruled.

The ruling by King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond arrives in advance of closing arguments set for July 25 in the trial of Arcel Bissonnette.

Bissonnette, 63, is accused of sexually assaulting five female patients between 2001 and 2017 during medical examinations at the Ste. Anne Hospital and Seine Medical Centre.

The five women described pelvic, rectal and breast examinations they say amounted to sexual assaults.

Bissonnette, the women alleged, remained largely silent during the examinations and provided little or no explanation for what he was doing. Three of the women alleged they saw or may have seen Bissonnette with an erection during or following the examinations.

Prosecutors filed a similar fact motion following the closing of the defence’s case in May.

Approval of a similar fact motion allows prosecutors to use the evidence of one alleged victim to corroborate the evidence of another.

Similar fact arguments are typically inadmissible, as they could be used to unfairly portray an accused as someone who has a propensity or inclination to commit crimes. Similar fact arguments are only accepted if a judge is satisfied the “probative value” of the evidence outweighs its “prejudicial effect.”

“There are sufficient specific details to justify admission of the evidence as similar fact,” Bond said in a written decision, issued July 6.

“This is not a situation where some of the complainants said Dr. Bissonnette was silent and others said he was chatty. None of the complainants, for example, allege overtly sexual comments or clearly non-medical sexual touching, such as kissing, oral genital contact or sexual intercourse.

“If I accept the evidence of each of the complainants, each describes sexual touching that from her perspective was inconsistent with that to which she had consented under the guise of a medical examination.”

All five women stepped forward after police issued a media notice in November 2020 announcing his arrest on charges involving six other female patients. The media notice did not include any details of the allegations against Bissonnette.

“In my view, there would be no merit to any suggestion that the description of what Dr. Bissonnette allegedly did, given by any of the complainants who testified before me, was influenced by the media release.”

Bissonnette testified and denied any wrongdoing, saying “all examinations were medically indicated” and consistent with his training.

“If anything is missed, I am responsible,” he testified. “That’s why these examinations are done. And I take that responsibility very seriously.”

Bissonnette denied having an erection during any of the examinations.

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A trial in January involving six other alleged victims ended abruptly with all charges stayed against Bissonnette after prosecutors concluded late disclosure in the case left them with no reasonable likelihood of conviction.

By that time, the trial had been adjourned four times in one week after Bissonnette’s defence team raised concerns about missing evidence: the notebooks of the lead Sainte-Anne Police Department investigator.

The women have since filed a civil lawsuit against Bissonnette.

A third trial involving 10 more alleged victims is set for February 2024.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.