R. v. Park

R v Park [1995] 2 S.C.R. 836, is a Supreme Court of Canada case dealing with the mistaken belief defence – i.e. that the accused had an honest but mistaken belief that he had consent to engage in sexual relations with the complainant – and the role of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in relation to sexual assault. Facts The accused was charged with sexual assault. Two weeks before the incident, the complainant and the accused had dated for the first time. Park testified that at her apartment they became intimate; fondled one another's private parts and talked of sex and birth control; she masturbated him to ejaculation. She maintains that they only kissed and talked of birth control. She stated she was a born again Christian and did not believe in premarital sex and thus claimed there was no consensual sexual activity. On the day of the incident, the accused called the complainant early in the morning; she agreed that he could come over. He arrived shortly thereafter and she greeted him at the door with a kiss on the cheek, wearing only her bathrobe. She claimed that, a few minutes later, he drew her to him and pushed her onto the bed. He was strong and while she resisted actively he could not be stopped. At that point, feeling his weight on her, she flashbacked to a previous traumatic experience. She went into "shock". His pulling his penis out of her and ejaculating on her stomach was the next thing she remembered. The accused had a very different story. He testified that she actively participated and when things got "hot", he prematurely ejaculated on her stomach. He denied that intercourse took place. A medical report from the examination of the complainant indicated redness on the inner labia, consistent with consensual or non-consensual intercourse.