Woman who endured a more credible ‘nightmare scenario’ than Yaremko in sexual assault trial: Crown – Saskatoon | The Canadian News

A Saskatoon judge has the option of accepting testimony from a woman with no reason to lie about the sexual assault or from a man who cannot be believed, argued a Crown prosecutor on the last day of Joseph Yaremko’s trial.

Yaremko is charged with illegal confinement, in addition to breaking in and entering and committing sexual assault with a weapon related to the events of June 3, 2019. Surveillance video shows Yaremko entering the suite of the woman’s apartment.

“Wherever there is independent evidence on a key point, it seems to contradict Mr. Yaremko,” Thompson said during closing arguments Friday.

The prosecutor described the incident as a “nightmare scenario,” in which a 21-year-old woman was in the suite of her Stonebridge apartment, preparing to watch television, when she heard a knock on the door.

The whistleblower, whom Thompson described as a “tremendously impressive witness,” testified that Yaremko made his way through the door and into his suite. The court heard that he wanted to get away from the nearby police.

The Crown alleged that the suspect closed the door behind him, before suffocating the victim and throwing her into bed. Summarizing the woman’s testimony, Thompson said Yaremko “threatened her with graphic sexual violence” unless she smoked drugs with him.

At trial, he gave “clear and convincing evidence. I had never used drugs before, ”said the prosecutor.

The woman said Yaremko claimed to have a knife and a gun. She was sexually assaulted multiple times, according to the Crown.

He left the suite the next morning and promised Yaremko that he would return. Instead, he called Saskatoon police, who arrested the suspect at the apartment.

During the trial, the woman said that it was not about consensual sex. On the stand in his own defense, Yaremko maintained that there was consent.

Thompson argued that Yaremko’s more than 100 criminal convictions are evidence of his “lifetime of dishonest acts.”

During his presentations, Thompson argued that Yaremko operated under “two different and inconsistent versions of reality.” He said the first version occurred during his police statement on June 4, 2019 and the second version was developed during the trial.

In his opening statement, Yaremko said that he and the whistleblower knew each other prior to the alleged sexual assault. He recalled spending time together a day before the date in question. However, Thompson said those experiences happened with a different woman.

“This was a deliberate attempt by Mr. Yaremko to take things that happened before … and stitch them into a narrative,” argued Thompson.

The other women testified during the trial, and Thompson said that led Yaremko to change her story. The defendant said that he and the woman had gone out.

“That was the best lie he could come up with at the time,” argued the Crown.

After his attorney withdrew from the case, Yaremko represented himself during closing arguments. Their presentations lasted about eight minutes compared to about an hour for the Crown.

“I do not have the experience or knowledge that all of you possess,” Yaremko declared in court. “I would just like to remind you that my freedom and liberty are at stake.”

During his allegations, he accused the complainant of acting “irrationally”, saying on multiple occasions that he could have left through the door or balcony of the suite.

“She never asked me to leave,” he said.

Yaremko argued that a knife that police believe was involved in the incident was found on a sofa. He told the court that the woman said it must have belonged to his brother or one of his friends.

He also asked why the woman did not yell or ask for help when she saw the shadows of the people passing through the front door.

He argued that his testimony aligned better with the facts than that of the complainant.

Judge Naheed Bardai is scheduled to pronounce his verdict on December 23.