A lawyer representing Kurtley Beale told jurors told to keep an open mind as they prepare to hear allegations against the Wallabies and Waratahs utility back, who is accused of sexually assaulted a woman at a pub.
It was the first day of Beale’s trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court on Monday after he pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching another person without consent last year.
Serious allegation
According to police, on December 18, 2022, the 35-year-old forced a 28-year-old woman to have oral sex with him in a Bondi’s Beach bar’s restroom. Prosecutors dropped another count of encouraging someone to have sex without consent.
Beale, who has played for Australia in 95 Test matches, appeared before the courtroom with his wife, Maddi. Margaret Cunneen, the defense attorney, asked the jury to remain open-minded during Monday’s empanelment despite Beale’s prominence in sports.
“There are some people in the community who hear an allegation against a man… and think well, he’s a sportsman, he must have done it. He’s guilty,” she said.
“We need people who can act as judges for a time and decide just on the evidence in this case, not because they’ve formed views in other cases about other men.
“It has to be decided on the evidence in this case, and not because of any thoughts about what has happened with other sportsmen or other men.”
Cuneen informed the court that certain allegations made by the claimed victim do not align with the CCTV footage from the night of the purported sexual assault.
“We have proof that the accuser followed Mr. Beale into the restroom, not the other way around,” the woman stated.
“There are two cases; we just ask that you remain open-minded until all the evidence is presented in this trial.”
Jeff Tunks, the crown prosecutor, informed the jury that Beale had allegedly “placed his penis in (the woman’s) mouth while in the men’s bathroom cubicle.”
12 jurors selected for the trial
Of the 54 potential jurors, 12 were selected for the trial before Justice Graham Turnbull at the Sydney court. They include seven women and five men.
