P.E.I. jury starts hearing evidence in sex assault case, with COVID measures in place

A jury trial over a sexual assault allegation began in Charlottetown Monday, with court officials taking special care to protect jurors in the age of COVID-19.

Jury trials are relatively rare on P.E.I., with none having occurred in the 14 months since the pandemic began to have an impact on daily life on the Island.

The extra precautions began Saturday, when potential jurors were summoned to show up at the ballroom of the Delta Hotel in downtown Charlottetown.

The room had to be big enough to allow physical distancing for the 89 people being screened for jury duty.

As the potential jurors arrived, sheriffs took their temperatures to make sure nobody was running a fever.

Some prospective jurors at exposure sites

Several candidates were dismissed because they said they had been at possible COVID-19 exposure sites in the days leading up to the selection process.

Eventually, four women and eight men were chosen to sit on the jury.

They have to wear masks throughout the proceedings, which are expected to last just over a week, and are seated in pairs with two metres of distance between each pair in the courtroom. The jurors in each pair are separated by a plexiglass partition.

They listened intently Monday morning as the judge walked them through their duties and they began to hear the facts of the case.

Accused chose jury trial

Edward Thomas Mundle, 58, of Charlottetown has pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual assault.

He has opted for trial by jury instead of judge alone.

The complainant is Stephanie Douglas. The Crown has not applied for a publication ban on her identity, and she is expected to testify.

The two met in 2013 through the dating website Plenty of Fish and proceeded to develop a sexual relationship involving dominant and submissive role-playing.

Case centres on consent

Crown prosecutor Lisa Goulden told the jury this case centres on the issue of consent.

The incident in question happened on New Year's Day of 2014. The Crown said that after that encounter, Douglas developed a serious bacterial infection and ended up in hospital.

She filed a police complaint in 2017.

On Monday, the court saw videotape of the interview Mundle did with Charlottetown police in 2019. In it, he strongly denies doing anything wrong.

Defence lawyer Peter Ghiz then cross-examined the police officer who investigated the case. Among other things, Ghiz wanted to know why police didn't search the man's home, where the incident allegedly took place, to confirm or debunk elements of the woman's accusations.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

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