Alleged victims’ memories tainted by doctor’s 2020 arrest: defence

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/07/2023 (774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Five women who say they were sexually assaulted by a Manitoba doctor didn’t come to believe he had done something criminal until learning he had been charged with sexual offences against other women, defence lawyers alleged Tuesday.

Arcel Bissonnette, 63, is on trial 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 assault.

Court was told all five women stepped forward after police issued a media notice in November 2020 that announced his arrest on charges involving six other female patients.

Learning about the charges caused the five women to reinterpret their own experiences through a “sexual lens,” and resulted in “inadvertent tainting or modification” of their evidence, defence lawyer Lisa LaBossiere alleged in a closing argument before King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond.

“The court needs to be alive to whether a complainant’s independent memory has been tainted,” LaBossiere said. “We are not suggesting actual collusion… It is looking back retrospectively at the incident and seeing it through a sexual context.”

Crown attorney Renee Lagimodiere countered that the women always knew what Bissonnette did was wrong and came forward because they felt it was their duty, with one testifying to feeling guilty for not coming forward sooner.

“There is no evidence testimony was tainted,” Lagimodiere said.

The five women testified about examinations that included pelvic exams in which Bissonnnette repeatedly inserted and removed his fingers from their vaginas, pelvirectal exams involving the simultaneous insertion of fingers into the rectum and vagina for which Bissonnette provided no explanation or warning, and unnecessary breast exams.

Three of the women alleged they saw or may have seen Bissonnette with an erection during or following the examinations.

Earlier this month, Bond approved a similar-fact motion that allows prosecutors to use the evidence of one alleged victim to corroborate the evidence of another.

LaBossiere argued the testimony of the five women was compromised by “ever-changing and developing memories,” serious inconsistencies and the passage of time.

One woman, LaBossiere said, testified about invasive pelvic and pelvirectal exams, but in a police statement year earlier said: “I don’t have a clear memory of it happening.”

“The witness evidence is not strong enough on its own to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” she said. Similar-fact evidence “does not cure issues of credibility and reliability in this case.”

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

Bissonnette’s testimony included little independent recollection of the examinations and relied on what would have been his standard practice.

But Bissonnette’s examination notes did not provide a full accounting of what he said he would have done, and in some cases included glaring errors, Lagimodiere said, pointing to the medical chart of one alleged victim that indicated she was menstruating, even though she had had a hysterectomy years earlier.

A family medicine expert called by the Crown testified at trial that pelvirectal exams are rarely done in family practice, given the availability of photo imaging.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Biidaajimowin | News from the Centre

Wednesdays

Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences.

Sign up for Biidaajimowin | News from the Centre

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Bissonnette’s testimony about how frequently he performed the exams was a “moving target,” Lagimodiere said, with him testifying he “possibly” performed one with one alleged victim, and later saying he did them “most of the time.”

Two of the women testified Bissonnette did not perform a pelvirectal examination.

“A careful analysis leads to the conclusion the accused’s evidence is neither credible nor reliable,” Lagimodiere said.

Lagimodiere will conclude her closing argument Thursday.

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.