A medical report, which was admitted and marked as evidence in the rape trial of entertainment promotor Colin Mack, revealed that the complainant suffered injuries to her eyes, elbow and genitals.
The trial, which started on Monday before Justice Navindra Singh, continued with the cross-examination of the virtual complainant,
a taxi driver and a policewoman who had escorted the young woman to the Georgetown Public Hospi-tal (GPH) for an examination.
On April 15, 2009, Mack was charged with the rape of a 19 year-old woman. A magistrate, later in that year, ruled that a prima facie case had been made out against him and that he should be tried in a higher court.
Police witness Dawn Baker, who said she was the person to escort the young woman from the East La Penitence police station to the hospital, yesterday identified the medical report. She stated that the examination was conducted in the presence of herself and the woman’s mother.
Baker testified that when the examination was completed, she provided the doctor with a police report form, on which the doctor wrote something and signed it. She added that the doctor handed over a kit she had used to examine the woman, a white paper bag which contained a pair of pants that the alleged victim was wearing, and the police form. These items, Baker said, were taken to the police station and lodged.
The medical report was read by Justice Singh yesterday in the court and it was stated that there was mild swelling to a region of the complainant’s eyes, abrasion to her left elbow, and lacerations to her genital area.
“This is alleged assault,” Justice Singh read from the report, adding that the injuries found on the young woman were not life-threatening but could cause some sort of disability.
The white paper bag was also admitted and marked as evidence in the trial and when it was opened in front of the jury and white pants with red-brown stains on the front were pulled out by a marshal, the complainant covered her mouth and stared at it as it was shown to the jury.
Defence attorney Peter Hugh grilled Baker as to why she had testified in the Magistrate’s Court that the white paper bag had contained pants and underwear when there was no sign of underwear. Baker said she had forgotten that she had made that statement and offered no explanation for the whereabouts of the underwear. She said she could not recall if it was torn or damaged.
The virtual complainant had testified that she did not find her underwear on the day that she was allegedly raped. She said she searched for her clothes and found her pants alone. Nevertheless, Hugh quizzed Baker on whether she had made any attempts to have the stains on the pants analyzed. Baker said she did not, adding that no test was carried out to know if any fluid was on the pants.
When questioned if she saw any marks of violence on the young woman’s body, she answered that it was the doctor’s responsibility to look for such things. Hugh, nonetheless, pressed on, asking her if it was not a part of the police’s duty to check for evidence of violence. Baker then stated that she could not recall seeing bruises on the victim’s back, neck and arms.
Justice Singh also questioned Baker about the whereabouts of the kit and she answered that she did not collect it after it was tendered in the Magistrate’s Court. She stated that she also did not inquire about it afterward.
“It is disturbing that you didn’t check for the kit,” Justice Singh said.
Charles Mars, also testified yesterday, stating that he was the taxi driver who picked the young woman up and carried her to the East La Penitence police station. He said he gave three statements on the matter.
Mars stated that he received a call from the virtual complainant and she sounded distressed. He said she also sounded as though she was crying. He said she told him that she wanted to go and make a report at the station about a rape.
When he arrived, he said, he saw the young woman sitting on a window sill, with the apparent intention to jump. He said he observed that her hair was a mess and that there were black marks under her eyes.
Mars said when he went into the house, Mack started to talk and said “she’s crazy”. He said Mack asked him to give another girl who was in the house a drop and he said yes. He said the virtual complainant, however, objected to the other woman entering the car.
He said she never indicated that the other woman “had done anything to her” and regardless, he said he still gave the other woman a drop because Mack was his friend too.
Hugh, during his cross-examination of Mars, argued that it was the first time Mars had ever mentioned that the girl’s eyes were black at the bottom, and that it was never mentioned in his statements either.
Mars responded that the police could have seen the blackness beneath her eyes so he did not bother to indicate anything. “The police was there to see,” he said.
On Tuesday, the young woman had testified that she was held against her will for several hours, and was raped.
The woman said she had known Mack for several years. On April 10, 2009, two days before the alleged rape, Mack stopped to talk to her on the road and asked her out. She said she said no but they had exchanged phone numbers.
On April 12, she said Mack carried her to a reggae show in the National Park and afterwards, they went to Club Latino and Blue Iguana to party. She said Mack had promised to drop her home but when she was inside the vehicle, she noticed that he travelled in a different direction.
The woman stated that when she had asked him where he was going and if he was not dropping her home, he responded by saying that he was tired and would call a taxi for her when he reached his place. But when they reached, she said, he grabbed her and pulled her out of the vehicle and carried her into the house, despite her protestations.
She said she fought him but he had forcibly begun to remove her clothes and carry her into a room. She said Mack raped her and then allowed a woman to have oral sex with her. She said throughout the entire ordeal she had protested and screamed for help but no one came to her rescue.
It was afterwards, she said, she attempted to escape from the house and discovered that it was locked. Scrambling to find her clothes, she said she found her cellphone and called her mother and a taxi driver to get her. She said she managed to find her pants and was attempting to jump through a window when the taxi driver arrived.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Brian Joseph had earlier testified that on April 12, 2009 he received information of an alleged rape and got into contact with Mack. He said Mack told him that he had already spoken to the girl’s mother and they were going to meet later that night.
