Carnegie also noted the ``significant'' amount of cautions the Crown placed on the long string of former girlfriends who were called to testify, suggesting they had a lot of bad character evidence about Rafferty.
``The amount of restraint the Crown has exercised with respect to these former partners of Mr. Rafferty has been
nothing short of herculean,'' Carnegie said.
``This is a case that has had
character landmines all over it and we have been very delicate in how we have been trying to deal with those.''
Some of the girlfriends, Carnegie said, have ``interesting and perhaps disconcerting things to say and conclusions drawn from various behaviours of Mr. Rafferty about his behaviours towards their children.'' He did not elaborate.
However, the Crown documents say the investigation ``revealed a
considerable history of alleged but previously unreported sexual violence that, if believed, demonstrates a rather
significant escalation in violence over the few years and months preceding this matter."
The investigation uncovered
13 women who reported that Rafferty had a penchant for
sexual choking - some of which they said was not consensual.
Investigators said they were told
Rafferty had one woman who was reluctant to participate in his sexual violence
sign a consent note, saying she agreed ``
to what Mike and I are doing tonight sexual choking and passing out and other things.''
http://www.am980.ca/channels/news/local/Story.aspx?ID=1702061
