The Accused Page #5

Sarah Tobias? Please come in.

Do you swear to tell the whole truth and

nothing but the truth, so help you God?

I do.

- State your name.

- Sarah Tobias.

Please be seated.

Miss Tobias,

on the night of the rape at The Mill...

Objection. These men

are not on trial for rape.

Your Honour,

it is imperative that the jury understand

what was happening to Miss Tobias

before, during and after the rape.

Miss Murphy, you may continue

your line of questioning, but be brief.

Thank you, Your Honour.

Miss Tobias, can you please tell us

what happened that night at The Mill?

Well, my boyfriend...

My boyfriend and I had a fight,

so I got in my car and I drove

to see my girlfriend Sally at The Mill.

I figured she'd be gettin' off work

and we could talk.

- She worked there?

- Yeah. She's a waitress, just like me.

So anyway, she was on a break.

We were sittin' in this booth, talking,

and this guy Danny

sent over a couple of drinks.

She knew him so we took the drinks

and he sat down

and we started talking.

And he was funny.

You know. He had a line.

So what happened next?

A bunch of guys

went into the back room to play pinball.

So me and Danny went in and

we started playing with this guy Bob.

And, after I finished my turn,

I went to go have a smoke.

You know. Smoke a little pot.

Somebody put some money

into the jukebox

and this song I really liked

came on the jukebox,

so I started to dance.

And then Danny comes up

and he starts dancing with me.

Real close.

You know, tight close.

And then he kissed me.

I'm sorry, Miss Tobias.

Could you please speak up?

He kissed me.

Did you try to stop him?

No. I let him kiss me, because I figured

he was drunk and he was stoned

and that he would kiss me

and then he would leave me alone.

And then he put his hand up my shirt

and he grabbed at my breast.

I tried to push him away

but he kept pulling me closer.

And he put his hand on my throat.

And he's a really strong guy,

you know.

And the next thing I knew...

Please go on, Miss Tobias.

He was squeezin' my throat

with his hand,

and he pushed me down

on the pinball machine,

and he ripped my shirt.

He lifted my skirt.

He pulled down my underpants,

really hard.

I wanted to move, but he was

holding me down really hard.

And he was jammin' his...

He was kissing me very hard and

he was jammin' his hand on my crotch.

I heard a bunch of people yellin'

"Hold her down."

Then the big guy - Kurt -

held my arms down.

I could hear 'em yelling

and clapping and cheering.

And then...

Danny put his hands over my mouth,

over my face,

and I shut my eyes.

He was inside of me.

And then...

And then they switched.

I could hear 'em sayin' "Frat boy".

Then Bob was inside of me.

There was all this yelling

and clapping and laughing.

Then I heard 'em call for Kurt:

"Needle dick".

Then they switched again,

and Kurt was inside of me.

They were yelling "Kurt, Kurt",

and there was all this chanting.

Please continue, Miss Tobias.

What did they chant?

Something...

"Poke that p*ssy."

The room was full of people

cheering this on?

Yeah, and I kicked him really hard.

I ran out into the road.

This guy picked me up

and took me to the hospital.

No further questions, Your Honour.

Miss Tobias,

my name is Ben Wainwright.

Now, I know this isn't easy for you,

so I'm going to ask you

only a handful of questions.

Now, you have testified that all the men

present were strangers to you.

You've also testified that,

while you were on the pinball machine,

that you mostly kept your eyes closed.

Is that right? Your eyes were closed?

Yes, sometimes.

Is it fair to say that you can't tell us

who applauded or who shouted?

Is that fair?

I...

Is it possible

that only one person shouted?

No. There were different voices.

So at least two, then.

Could it have been only two?

No. They overlapped.

Miss Tobias, you testified that you were

assaulted by three men. Is that right?

- Yes.

- OK.

Is it possible -

and I'm just saying possible -

that the only ones who shouted

were among your assaulters?

No. The voices were

coming from further away.

OK.

Miss Tobias,

you had had several drinks,

you had smoked marijuana,

the TV was playing,

the jukebox was playing,

you were in a room full of noisy

video games and pinball machines,

you had your eyes closed, sometimes,

and you were being assaulted.

Now, given these conditions,

can you truly say

how many voices you heard

and where those voices

were coming from?

No.

Is it fair to say, then,

that you can't tell us

who applauded or who shouted?

Is that fair?

Yes, that's fair.

OK. Thank you.

Miss Tobias,

while you were on the pinball machine,

did you at any time

cry "Help" or "Rape"?

No. I tried but

they were covering my mouth.

They were either kissing me or

they had their hands all over my mouth.

I kept saying "No."

"No"?

Right. I said "No."

Not "Rape" or "Help" or "Police",

but "No"?

Right. "No."

- Did anybody hear you?

- I don't know.

Did you signal to anybody

in the room? A hand signal?

No. My hands were pinned down.

Signal to anybody with your eyes?

No.

- Were you struggling?

- Yes.

Anybody see you struggling?

They must have.

Miss Tobias,

can you in any way prove to us

that someone in that room - anyone -

saw you struggling

or heard you say "No"?

No.

No more questions.

Miss Tobias, while you were being

gang-raped, what were you thinking?

- Thinking?

- Yes. What were you thinking?

What words came into your head?

Three men were repeatedly raping you,

holding you down and raping you,

and their friends cheered and clapped,

and you lay there naked, defenceless,

struggling, weeping and in pain.

What words came into your head?

What words?

"No."

No further questions, Your Honour.

The witness is excused.

- How you doin'?

- Good.

- Did you cut the whole day to come?

- It's no big deal.

- How you doin'?

- I've been better.

So how's everything?

What have I been missin'?

Listen.

They're prosecuting three other guys

in the bar who were cheering.

They're making me testify. But you have

absolutely nothing to worry about.

- I just wanted to tell you.

- Nothin' to worry about?

- Are you out of your f***in' mind?

- You're not even on trial.

- What are you gonna say?

- I'm gonna tell 'em what happened.

And what happened?

Come on, man. You know.

A bunch of guys

were cheering and yelling and stuff

as you, Kurt and Danny...

well, you raped her.

Who said I raped her?

I'm not in here for rape.

Did you see me rape her, Ken?

- What do you think?

- You didn't, did you?

Yes, I did, Bob.

Ken, if you say that,

you know what happens to me?

- Nothing's gonna happen.

- No.

Instead of my nine months in here,

the parole board'll turn it into five years.

- They're making me do this.

- No.

All they can do is call you.

They can't make you say anything.

You don't remember. You were drunk,

too confused to get any of it straight.

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