Overview
- Prosecutors withdrew the sexual-assault charge tied to the sixth complainant on Monday, saying there was no longer a reasonable prospect of conviction, after earlier dropping a related forcible-confinement count.
- Defence lawyer Leora Shemesh asked the judge to enter a not-guilty verdict on the withdrawn allegation, citing newly located 2006 police notes filed under an officer’s maiden name that she says contradict the complainant’s testimony; the judge deferred a ruling.
- The seventh complainant testified to an alleged early-1980s rape and is being cross-examined, with the defence asserting the encounter was consensual and the witness rejecting that claim.
- A friend and colleague of a complainant testified she recognized Stronach in 2024 news of his arrest and later accompanied the woman to give a police statement, marking the Crown’s final witness as the prosecution closed its case.
- Shemesh said the defence will seek directed verdicts on one count involving the second complainant and one involving the third, with arguments set for Friday before the defence begins presenting evidence next week.