Defence to seek directed verdict on two charges in Frank Stronach sex assault case

TORONTO — The lawyer representing Frank Stronach says she plans to seek a directed verdict on charges related to two of the complainants in his Toronto sexual assault case.

Defence lawyer Leora Shemesh told the court Wednesday that the motion — which asks the judge to enter a not-guilty verdict on grounds that the essential elements of the offence haven’t been met — will target one count involving the second complainant to testify at trial and one involving the third.

Shemesh says she intends to argue that the third complainant’s account of her encounter with Stronach in 1977 does not meet the definition of attempted rape at the time.

As for the second complainant, the lawyer says the issue concerns the year the woman alleges Stronach groped her.

Stronach is charged with sexual assault regarding that complainant, but the charge did not exist until 1983 and Shemesh says she plans to argue that the woman’s testimony leaves open the possibility that the alleged incident took place in 1982.

Court is expected to hear arguments on the matter when it reconvenes Friday afternoon.

Stronach, who is 93, faces 11 charges stemming from alleged incidents dating as far back as the 1970s. Prosecutors are seeking to withdraw a count of sexual assault related to the sixth complainant.

The Crown finished presenting its evidence Wednesday as a friend and colleague of the final complainant took the stand.

The woman, whom The Canadian Press is not naming in order to protect the identity of the complainant, said the two of them were in a hotel room seven to 10 years ago when the topic of date rape came up because of something they saw online or in an article.

The complainant said that had happened to her and asked if that was “what they were calling it now,” the friend testified. The complainant didn’t elaborate further and the friend said she didn’t ask.

The pair were on a business trip when Stronach was first charged in June 2024, and the friend said she mentioned the news to the complainant when they met the rest of their team for breakfast.

“The blood drained out of her face,” the friend testified.

The complainant said, “It’s him,” and it dawned on the friend that she was talking about the incident she’d alluded to years earlier, she said.

At the complainant’s request, the friend showed her an article about the arrest on her phone, she said.

The complainant mentioned Rooney’s, the Toronto dining and nightlife venue Stronach owned, but didn’t say anything beyond that, the friend said, adding they were busy with work.

In August of that year, the friend accompanied the complainant to the police station for support, she said. She thought it was odd they’d been sent to police in Mississauga, Ont., because the complainant had mentioned Rooney’s, the friend said.

After the complainant gave her statement, police asked the friend to give one as well, which she had not expected, she said.

During cross-examination, the defence pointed to several details the friend had not mentioned in her statement to police, including that the complainant had brought up Rooney’s.

Shemesh suggested that the two women had discussed what they told police on the ride back from the station, but the friend said their conversation didn’t go into the details of their statements.

The complainant was “quite distraught” in the car and they mostly focused on the fact that police told her charges would be laid, the friend said.

Later, Shemesh also questioned the friend on her reaction to the complainant’s revelation in 2024.

“She gives you absolutely no details and you don’t ask for any — what happened, nothing?” the lawyer asked.

“That’s right,” the friend replied.

“OK, your position is (that) from June to the time that you go to the police station, nothing’s discussed, not one word,” Shemesh continued.

“Only that she was planning to go forward at some point, she made a decision to go forward.”

All seven complainants have testified since the trial began on Feb. 12, though the sixth complainant did not finish cross-examination.

The defence is expected to start presenting its evidence next week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2026.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press