Jian Ghomeshi trial: Lucy DeCoutere wrote accused that she wanted to have sex with him after alleged assault

Lucy DeCoutere emailed Jian Ghomeshi hours after an alleged sexual assault saying she wanted to have sex with him, and sent him a handwritten letter days later saying she was sad they didn't spend the night together, court heard today.

"You kicked my ass last night and that makes me want to f--k your brains out tonight," DeCoutere emailed Ghomeshi about 1:30 a.m.

It was one of a series of emails unveiled by Ghomeshi's lawyer, Marie Henein, sent to the former CBC Radio host by the Trailer Park Boys actress in the years following the alleged assault. DeCoutere claims she was choked and slapped by Ghomeshi at his Toronto home following a dinner date in July 2003.

• Blog recap: Lucy DeCoutere sent letter and emails to accused after alleged assault
• Jian Ghomeshi and Lucy DeCoutere cuddled in park after alleged assault, trial hears

​Ghomeshi, 48, who lives in Toronto, has pleaded not guilty in provincial court to four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance by choking, all related to alleged assaults from 2002 to 2003. A judge alone is hearing the case.

The identities of the two other complainants in the case are protected under a publication ban, but DeCoutere, also an air force captain, went to court to lift the ban on her name.

Handwritten letter

Henein also presented a letter DeCoutere had handwritten to Ghomeshi after she returned to Halifax from Toronto, dated five days after the alleged assault.

In the letter, DeCoutere recounts the evening she had with Ghomeshi, saying how they hooked up for dinner and "you totally knocked me out."

She apologized if she sent Ghomeshi mixed messages, adding that "I loved spending time with you this weekend."

"Jian you're great and I want to know more, have more fun, easy times with you because it's so very rare, right?

"I am sad we didn't spend the night together," DeCoutere wrote.

Henein made DeCoutere read the last line of the letter.

"I love your hands," DeCoutere said.

DeCoutere said she couldn't remember sending the email about wanting to have sex with Ghomeshi, but that it didn't change the fact that he assaulted her.

"Women can be assaulted by someone and still have positive feelings for them afterward," she said. "That's why there are emotionally abusive relationships that continue."

'I would never lie under oath'

DeCoutere also said she didn't remember writing the letter.

"I'm going to suggest to you you remember writing it," Henein said. "Just didn't know I had it. Right?"

"I would never lie under oath like that," she said. " I absolutely have no memory of writing this."

Henein argued that the emails were at odds with DeCoutere statements to police and the court in which she said that she had no romantic interest in Ghomeshi after the alleged assault or any interest in pursuing a relationship with him.

"You told the police you didn't really have any dealings with him afterwards, except professionally, that you didn't engage with him, that you weren't friends with him, that there were no romantic feelings afterwards. Those were your words," Henein said.

"There were no romantic feelings afterward, I guarantee you that," DeCoutere replied.

"Do you? Under oath, you're going to guarantee me that," Henein asked.

"Oh god yes," DeCoutere said.

It was then that Henein began disclosing the contents of the series of emails, many of which of expressing DeCoutere's interest in wanting to spend time with Ghomeshi.

In another email, dated 13 days after the alleged assault, DeCoutere included the line: "I think you are magic and would love to see you," also asking if he would "like to hang out again."

"Are you prepared to admit that you have been lying about your feelings?" Henein asked. "That you have been lying about the incident? Are you prepared to admit that now?"

"Absolutely not," DeCoutere responded.

She said she did her best to overlook Ghomeshi's assault, and presumed it was a one-time thing that left her "extremely confused." 

"I will stick to the fact that Mr. Ghomeshi choked me and slapped me and the after-incident stuff doesn't change that," DeCoutere said.

In another email, DeCoutere said how she would like to "play" with Ghomeshi, in one correspondence she told him that she had dreamed about him and in another sent a picture of herself simulating oral sex with a beer bottle.

But DeCoutere insisted that those were all cheeky exchanges (and said she had sent the beer bottle picture to other friends) and that none were sent with the purpose of pursuing a romantic relationship with Ghomeshi.

Complicated feelings

DeCoutere said she had been trying to normalize the situation in part because she would likely run into Ghomeshi at industry events.

But DeCoutere said she was also trying to make friends with him and had complicated feelings about him.

Gillian Hnatiw, Lucy DeCoutere's lawyer, said after her client wrapped up her testimony Friday, that this is a trial about Ghomeshi's conduct.

"What Lucy did and how she felt in the aftermath of the assault does not change that essential fact," Hnatiw said. "It is telling that the defence did not accuse her of dishonesty regarding the objective facts of the assault itself.

"She maintains her allegations and remains resolute in her decision to come forward."

On Thursday, DeCoutere testified that after the alleged assault she spent the weekend with Ghomeshi, attending brunch with him, and going to a barbecue. 

DeCoutere said that she had omitted these details when giving her statement to police.

Henein also revealed pictures of DeCoutere taken the day after the alleged assault, cuddling with Ghomeshi in a park. During cross-examination, DeCoutere said she didn't remember those pictures being taken in the park or cuddling with Ghomeshi.

DeCoutere is the second complainant to testify. A woman who said she met Ghomeshi at a Christmas party in 2002 testified that Ghomeshi twice pulled her hair and punched her in the head.​