Doctor testifies on erectile dysfunction at lawyer's trial in defence attempt to cast doubt on allegations
CBC
Warning: The content in this story involves alleged sexual assault and the details may be disturbing to some.
Jerome Kennedy presented Dr. Douglas Drover with a series of hypothetical scenarios Tuesday in Supreme Court in St. John's in an effort to determine whether his client could have possibly done what he's accused of doing.
The former health authority chief of staff and urologist took the stand as an expert witness in the trial of Robert Regular, 72, Tuesday.
He was the third witness called by the defence at the trial. Regular, a lawyer and businessman, is accused of sexually assaulting a female four times, beginning when she was 12. He denies the allegations.
Drover said he has no prior connection to Regular but was asked by the defence to review his medical records, X-ray and laboratory test results, and the list of pharmaceuticals that he was prescribed.
Regular first went to his doctor in 2011 and reported that for the last year he had been experiencing a decrease in libido and intermittent erectile dysfunction, the court was told.
From 2011 to 2017, Drover said, records show Regular was prescribed medication to assist with his condition but he said the effectiveness depends on the person and the severity of their erectile dysfunction.
Regular's age and coronary disease are significant factors affecting getting and maintaining an erection, the doctor said.
However, Drover said it was not documented whether Regular's condition was mild, moderate or severe.
Kennedy posed the complainant's testimony to Drover for him to assess: the sex was spontaneous, in a law office during work hours.
The doctor said if the patient took medication an hour to two hours before and they had a mild form of the condition, "they could in theory perform."
"It would be a challenge if he had not taken medication, if there was no foreplay, in this environment," Drover said.
The complainant testified last week that she had sexual intercourse with Regular on two separate occasions — 2012 and 2013, respectively — in his law office.
She said the encounter lasted only a couple of minutes and was precipitated by kissing and touching.
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