Warning: This article discusses rape and sexual assault.
The defence has called on the man accused of sexual offending to give evidence in his trial in the Wellington District Court.
The 25-year-old entertainer faces eight charges, including the rape of four women.
The sexual assaults are alleged to have happened between 2017 and 2020.
Defence lawyer Sam Campbell opened the defence case yesterday and said it will cover how the accused had consensual sex with four women and didn’t sexually assault a further two women, and if they were assaulted it wasn’t him that did this.
"You're also going to hear how the defendant became a victim of a social media and a media frenzy and campaign against other young men and himself that the defence says is ultimately based on untruth, gossip and rumour," Campbell said.
He asked the jury to put themselves in the man’s shoes, saying the accused was an innocent, vulnerable person choosing to speak in his trial which is "not an easy task".
Part of the defence case is how the people involved in these allegations experimented with alcohol, sex and drugs, something Mr Campbell said has been occurring with young people for centuries.
"The law recognises that people can still consent when they have alcohol or drugs on board," he said.
Campbell’s questioning of the accused started by asking him about his life growing up, his interests and friends.
He asked him about what sex education he received at school and what he thought consent meant.
"That is a mutual understanding between two parties that are involved in an act that both of them have together… consent can change when the person is affected by alcohol or drugs, or how they're able to give consent or not," the man said.
The questions then turned to the 25-year-old’s version of events on the nights the incidents are alleged to have happened.
He said he had been drinking alcohol when he attended a joint birthday party held by the first complainant and her friend.
He denied her claim he later entered her room when she was asleep and raped her, saying they got into bed together and had consensual sex.
"Continued kissing and yeah, feeling each other and by then we got aroused and knew that we were going to be having sex,” he said.
He also claims the complainant organised where everyone would be sleeping in her house that night and was checking in on everyone in the lounge, but the woman maintains she was in bed asleep and intoxicated when the others got home.
The accused denied the sexual act was "forceful" in nature.
"That’s not possible, that’s not true, that’s not what I did to her," he said.
The accused claims he had sex with the woman a further two times with her consent, but she claims this only occurred once.
The defence case continues today.
Crown case ends
Earlier yesterday, the Crown case closed with the police officer in charge of the investigation being called as the final witness.
Detective Constable John Lyon confirmed details of the investigation to crown prosecutor Kate Feltham such as having completed a scene examination at a flat, receiving a screenshot of conversations from a complainant and receiving video clips from a witness from the night one of the sexual assaults allegedly occurred.
The police officer also said he had put the nature of the complaints to the accused in the presence of his lawyer and that the accused declined to make comment about the allegations.
Defence lawyer Val Nisbet questioned Det Const Lyon on this event, saying the accused had repeatedly said “not guilty” in a recorded police interview.
Judge Andrew Becroft sought clarification on this, and Feltham explained that the accused didn’t comment on the details of the allegations put to him but had said “not guilty”.
Nisbet then questioned Det Const Lyon on his communication with complainants, with the defence being provided with photos of messages that had been sent and received by the police officer since July this year.
He told the lawyer there was no evidence of communication from before then because his police phone had been cleared of data after forgetting the code to access the phone a number of times.
The police officer said his communication with women involved in the case remained objective.
The defence lawyer questioned if he had called the complainants “survivors” to which he confirmed.
Det Const Lyon also confirmed he had talked to the complainants about his dog and asked for name suggestions.
The lawyer questioned why he did this.
“People are interested in dogs and I was proud of my new puppy, I didn’t think there was anything unprofessional about it,” he said.
On another occasion, Det Const Lyon confirmed he had contacted a complainant about a media article he had enjoyed reading that was relevant to her.
The police officer was also questioned about his communications with a woman who posted allegations about the accused on social media, which prompted the police to investigate.
Feltham re-examined the police officer, asking him as the officer in charge of the case, what the purpose was for his contact with witnesses and complainants.
“Provide updates on the case and carry that through to court… what’s happening in different hearings and how the investigation may be going,” Det Const Lyon said.
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