Attack victim testifies at Robicheau trial
A trial to determine the mental state of a man who attacked a gas station attendant in Dartmouth, N.S., four years ago heard from the victim Friday.
The 47-year-old woman, who cannot be identified, spoke in a whisper, occasionally sobbing, as she recounted the night in 2007 when she was raped and had her throat slit.
"He hasn't beat me in the emotional sense, because I'm fighting hard. But in my physical ... I'm not the same person I was before," she told CBC News outside the court. "I want to tell him face to face what he did to me, what he did to my family, was wrong and I want him to know he's damaged me for life."
In her testimony, she recalled the few words she exchanged with her attacker, Michael Derrick Robicheau. She did not look at Robicheau and he did not look at her during her testimony.
Robicheau, 34, sat quietly with his eyes closed for much of the hearing. The trial will resume next Friday. Final arguments are likely to come in March, with a decision sometime after that.
In an agreed statement of facts presented in court in October 2010, Robicheau admitted to assaulting the woman on Aug. 21, 2007, cutting off her clothes, sexually assaulting her and slashing her throat. Robicheau pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, sexual assault, unlawful confinement, robbery and possession of a weapon on the grounds that he was not criminally responsible for his actions.
The woman was working the night shift alone at an Ultramar station in Dartmouth when she was attacked. She called 911, but was unconscious by the time help arrived.
Robicheau was arrested shortly after in some nearby bushes. He had been released from prison 10 days previously after serving two-thirds of a sentence for numerous convictions. He has a long criminal history, including a conviction for attacking a clerk in a sandwich shop.
The only question remaining for the court in this case is if he was criminally responsible for his actions.
The court has still to hear from the parole officers who dealt with Robicheau in the days before the offence, the police officers who arrested him and did the initial interrogation as well as the first psychiatrist to interview him after the attack.
Robicheau pleaded guilty to a number of charges in 2008. But those pleas were withdrawn after the Crown learned that Robicheau was refusing to take his medication for his mental illness, making it impossible for him to understand the court process.
After several psychiatric assessments of Robicheau, he was found fit to stand trial in October 2009.
"The wheels of justice are continuing to roll," said Crown prosecutor Perry Borden after the court ended hearings for the day. "This matter is important in our minds and it's important to take our time and make sure all of our t's are crossed and our i's are dotted."