Russell Brand’s trial has entered its closing stages, with the jury preparing to consider three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault. Brand denies all the allegations.
The case concerns six women who allege offenses between 1999 and 2009. The original indecent-assault allegation was reduced to attempted indecent assault by the judge last week. Brand has been accompanied to court on most days by his wife, Laura, who testified last week and described him as a caring father to their three children.
The prosecution delivered its closing arguments on Friday at Southwark Crown Court. Lead prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones told the jury, made up of eight men and four women, that the defense case contained “half-truths” presented as lies. She said the six women did not know one another and had not sought publicity, arguing that they had little to gain from coming forward other than possible closure.
Karmy-Jones asked jurors to consider the women’s accounts of Brand appearing kind before undergoing what she described as a change in personality. She said the complainants had told the court that Brand ignored their refusals and continued until he had achieved what he wanted.
On Monday, Brand’s lead defense lawyer, Ian Winter, argued that the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary and reporting by The Sunday Times had influenced the women to come forward. The documentary brought allegations against Brand to public attention and led to a police investigation in 2023. Winter said the media coverage had compromised the justice process by encouraging the complaints.
Winter also questioned why none of the women who said they had been raped had made that accusation directly to Brand. He pointed out that none of the complainants had, according to the defense, resisted, screamed or tried to leave during the alleged incidents.
The lawyer emphasized that Brand’s promiscuous lifestyle was not itself illegal and said that even manipulative behavior in pursuit of consensual sex was lawful. He argued that Brand was seeking approval and adoration, rather than acting with an assumption that non-consensual sex was normal.
Winter also said Brand’s behavior during and after the alleged attacks indicated that he believed the encounters were consensual. He told the jury there was no evidence that Brand was a person who raped others while considering such conduct normal.
The jury will deliberate on the charges after both sides complete their closing submissions.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter.