The 82-year-old fashion mogul has pleaded not guilty to five charges of sexual assault and one of false imprisonment in Ontario.
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The 82-year-old Canadian is accused of assaulting 5 women, including a minor, in his former fashion workshop downtown. The alleged events took place from 1986 to 2005.
In Toronto, Peter Nygard's defense asked the jury to acquit his client, arguing that his accusers' allegations defy common sense and that the Crown only bases its arguments on insinuations and dubious deductions.
In his final argument, the defense reminded the jury that Peter Nygard still enjoys the presumption of innocence and that he readily accepted to testify at his trial because he had nothing to hide.
Lawyer Brian Greenspan also affirms that the defense is the first to present its final arguments to him, since it has decided to x27;call her client to the witness box and that she therefore agreed to lose her advantage of closing the pleadings.
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Mr. Greenspan described his client as a workaholic, passionate about fashion and design, healthy in body and mind and a man proud of his Finnish origins.
Me Greenspan adds that the burden of proof rests on the shoulders of the Crown and that his client does not x27;has nothing to prove.
He asks the jury to weigh the value of each piece of evidence in this trial and to discern the Crown's suggestions among the assumptions and inferences it made during six weeks of hearings.
It thus reminds us that rumors, hypotheses and suspicions are not valid or verifiable facts.
Forget the old adage that there is no smoke without fire, you must be convinced of the certainty of the allegations, he explains.
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Attorney Brian Greenspan reminds the jury that he has a duty to exonerate his client if he has the slightest doubt about the credibility of the plaintiffs and the veracity of their testimonies.
Me Greenspan specifies that his client does not know four of the five complainants, but that it is possible that he met them, because he met many people in his life.
He nevertheless attacked the credibility of the complainants, noting contradictions and inconsistencies in their testimonies to the police in October 2021 and two years later during the trial.
There can be no "alternative truths", he said, rejecting the Crown's idea that his client is a predator.
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Peter Nygard's defense accuses the Crown of trying to make the jury believe that his client is a sexual predator who operated in a secret room in his Toronto fashion studio.
Me Greenspan adds that the allegations of the five women are ridiculous and he denounces collusion, because four of them joined a class action against his client in the United States.
They were therefore motivated by greed, he declared.
The lawyer also excused the oversights and the failings of Peter Nygard, explaining them by his advanced age and his hearing and memory problems.
On the other hand, he asks the jurors to reflect on the fatal flaws and unreliability of the complainants' testimonies, because the Crown failed in its task, according to him, of proving the guilt of his client beyond a reasonable doubt.< /p>Open in full screen mode
Peter Nygard testified for five days under the gaze of prosecutor Neville Golwalla (seated lower left ).
Revised and corrected stories have been put forward, as if they presented a clear picture of events that occurred more than 18 years ago, he emphasizes. -il.
Me Greenspan invites the jury to acquit his client if it has doubts about the reliability of his accusers' account. p>
Your duty would be easier if you considered the many aspects of the evidence, which defy all reason and logic, he concludes.
In his final indictment, the Crown first dismissed any suspicion of collusion between the plaintiffs, recalling that four of them had in fact joined a class action in the United States, but well after having filed a complaint with the police of Toronto.
Complainant No. 1 contacted the police as early as 1998, at least 10 years before civil proceedings against Peter Nygard began in the United States, says prosecutor Ana Serban.
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Prosecutor Ana Serban (at the lectern) says Peter Nygard has an infallible memory about his career, but no memory of the details surrounding his life with women.
Me Serban therefore maintains that these women do not know each other, but that their allegations are strangely similar, since Peter Nygard adopted the same process to lure them to his former Toronto workshop.
The prosecutor points out that Peter Nygard used his notoriety to show them job opportunities in the fashion world.
She recalls that three of the complainants, for example, believed in her employment offers and that the other two were told that she had not accepted the offer. they could be models because of their physique.
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Peter Nygard and his lead lawyer, Brian Greenspan, listen to the Crown's final submission on November 7, 2023.
She adds that Peter Nygard offered them a tour of the owner of his workshop before attacking them and that it was also impossible to leave his room, since he was activating the door opening mechanism. remotely.
Peter Nygard is a man who likes routine, she says, explaining that he raped the five women, that #x27;he reprimanded them when they struggled and he came in the same way.
Me Serban recognizes that x27;he acted differently with Complainant #2 because she was only 16 while he was 63.
He gave her morning-after pills because he couldn't risk getting a minor pregnant, she said.
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On October 10, 2023, the Crown prosecutor questioned complainant no. 2 who accused Peter Nygard of having raped her in 2004-2005.
The Crown therefore asks the jury to use common sense, because Peter Nygard's memory lapses are to his advantage. She also makes fun of the fact that the accused says he only met one of the five complainants.
He continued to evade details about the attacks by diverting your attention, because he did not want to compromise himself, explains Mr. Serban, citing the example of cognac, an alcohol whom he said he did not know.
Me Serban recalls that complainant no. 2 explained that Peter Nygard had offered her a glass of cognac before attacking her during a three-way rape.
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For prosecutor Neville Golwalla, Peter Nygard's testimony was inconsistent and contradictory, and his memory was selective.< /p>
On this subject, the Crown even suggests that complainants Nos. 2 and 3 were drugged, because they had passed out after having one or two drinks.
She further maintains that the five women did not consent in any way and that the fact that two of them demanded that he wear a condom does not prove that they were.
They were scared, trapped and resigned, she concluded.
The judge will present his instructions to the jury on Wednesday morning.
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116
