Vice News
By Hilary Beaumont
In 2014, when he was first accused of sexual assault and hitting women, Jian Ghomeshi said he liked “rough sex” and BDSM, calling his sex life a “mild form” of 50 Shades of Grey.
This week, the former TV and radio host is in court facing allegations from three women, amounting to four criminal counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance to sexual assault by choking.
The case is one of the country’s most highly publicized sex assault trials ever, and — thanks to the Ghomeshi’s own Facebook posts — has already wandered into the grey legal zone around BDSM and consent. But it also underlines a rarely used, and very serious, criminal charge that could see Ghomeshi put away for life.
The choking charge, which comes from the same section of the law that prohibits date rape, could land Ghomeshi with a life sentence in prison if he’s convicted. That’s because, according to the prosecution, he allegedly wanted to do something worse than only sexually assault one of the women who took the stand on Thursday: He prevented her from resisting it.
But prosecutors must prove he had the intent to commit sexual assault for the charge to stick. And if Ghomeshi intends to argue that the choking, and other rough sexual acts, were consensual — as he’s suggested in the past — it might raise the question of whether consent is even possible, and whether the choking was so severe that it inflicted serious bodily harm.
It’s alleged that in 2003, Ghomeshi choked and slapped Trailer Park Boys actress Lucy DeCoutere. On the stand, DeCoutere described it as “a power thing.”
In a Facebook post written in 2014, Ghomeshi said, “I have always been interested in a variety of activities in the bedroom but I only participate in sexual practices that are mutually agreed upon, consensual, and exciting for both partners.”
After the alleged assault, DeCoutere wrote in an email, “You kicked my ass last night and that makes me want to fuck your brains out tonight.” …