Defence barrister says earlier allegations about comedian’s sexual conduct ‘poisoned the wells’ of justice as trial continues
Russell Brand is not a “psychopath who rapes people and thinks it’s normal” and is respectful when women say no, a court has heard.
In his closing speech at Southwark crown court, Brand’s barrister, Ian Winter KC, questioned why Brand’s accusers had not fought back when they were allegedly raped, saying “not one of them resisted or screamed or even tried to leave”.
Winter said allegations about the comedian’s sexual conduct in 2023 had “poisoned the wells” of justice. He also said there had been “monstrous delays” in the women in the criminal trial coming forward to police.
He also questioned why Brand had been accused of “only three rapes in 10 years” out of all the women he had slept with.
He said: “It is an extremely curious feature of this case that out of the many, many women that Mr Brand had sex with during this period only three of them say they did not consent to anal, oral or vaginal sex.”
Brand, 51, is accused of seven offences, including rape and sexual assault, against six women in allegations spanning 10 years from 1999. He denies all the charges.
Winter began his closing speech by reciting an 1864 quote from the theologian and philosopher John Henry Newman, saying: “What I insist upon here, now that I am bringing this portion of my discussion to a close, is this unmanly attempt of his, in his concluding pages, to cut the ground from under my feet … this I call poisoning the wells.”
He said the 2023 reporting of sexual misconduct allegations in a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary and Times and Sunday Times stories had “poisoned the well of justice” in Brand’s case by prompting the women to come forward with accusations afterwards.
Winter told jurors: “They poisoned the wells in the hope and intention that other people come forward and make allegations against him.”
In her closing speech on Friday, the prosecutor, Riel Karmy-Jones KC, denied that the 2023 reporting had had “such a subliminal hold on the minds of six perfectly rational women” to make them “invent, reimagine, recharacterise, recast” their encounters with the comedian.
Winter told jurors on Monday that Brand had an “immense amount of sex” and none of it was unlawful.
“The question for you is, can you possibly be sure in this case that out of the many, many women who voluntarily had sex with Mr Brand between 1999 and 2009, he raped just three of them?” he asked.
“Living a highly promiscuous life is entirely lawful however morally distasteful you may find it,” he continued. “Disgusting, distasteful, immoral – who cares? It’s irrelevant to your consideration.”
Winter said another “curious feature” of the case was that the three rape complainants had alleged Brand was “normal” after the alleged incidents.
“That, we suggest, is something that simply cannot have occurred if he is guilty,” the barrister said. “He obviously genuinely believed that they were consenting because that’s the only thing that would explain why his behaviour was normal.”
The barrister said there was “no evidence he is some sort of psychopath who rapes people and thinks it’s normal”.
He also questioned why the women had not screamed, kicked out or slapped Brand during the alleged attacks. He asked why a woman who accuses Brand of anal rape “didn’t just roll over and kick out in any way” and said she “didn’t scream or resist or call out”. He also questioned why a woman who says she was orally raped did not “slap [Brand] in the face” and suggested she had not “sufficiently” resisted.
He also questioned how none of the women came forward during the #MeToo movement.
Winter said: “How is it that it’s only three out of the many, many women, how is it that not even these ones, not even these allegations on this indictment came to light during #MeToo?
“Many women were questioning whether they had a bad experience sexually at the hands of a famous person. It could not have been more publicised.
“How is it that not one of them thought what happened to them involved a crime during the #MeToo movement?”
The court has heard the earliest allegation dated back to 1999, when a woman accused Brand of raping her after he had performed in a fringe cabaret event during the Labour party conference in Bournemouth.
The woman told the court Brand had left his email address after raping her, while asking her if she was enjoying herself.
Winter said the woman was not a “naive and wilting flower” as he questioned her account of events. “You would have to be a psychopath to be raping someone and asking them if they were enjoying it,” Winter said. “He [Brand] said he was trying to please her but he wasn’t successful.”
Winter said rapists did not try to please their victims. He also said Brand respected when a woman said no, and sought “approbation and adoration” from women.
“He respects it when a woman says no so that makes him someone who is not a rapist,” Winter said. “He was seeking the approval in the sex, it’s the approval, it’s the ‘Yes I will have sex with you’, and that’s what he said in his evidence.”
Brand is accused of three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault. On Tuesday, an allegation of indecent assault was changed to a charge of attempted indecent assault. Brand has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The trial continues.
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Source: www.theguardian.com
