N.S. doctor on trial for assaulting patient

The trial of a Nova Scotia doctor charged with sexually assaulting a hospital patient got underway on Monday in Amherst with jury selection.

Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashoranti is charged with sexually assaulting a female patient at All Saints Hospital in Springhill on July 29, 2010.

The court had a difficult time selecting a jury because so many people have had some contact with him.

Most of Monday morning was taken up with selecting a jury from 459 people summoned to the Amherst court. They all came from towns serviced by hospitals where the accused worked.

As the jury selection proceeded, hundreds of potential jurors asked to be excused because Fashoranti had treated them or a family member. Others said they knew the complainant or witnesses who will be called at the trial.

Only about three dozen potential jurors were left when the 12-person panel was finally selected.

The trial is scheduled to last five days.

After he was charged, Fashoranti withdrew his services from the hospital but was still seeing patients in Pugwash. He was also doing procedures at the hospital, but was being chaperoned.