November 26, 2009
Calgary rapist plays race card
'I'm a black man in a white town, a redneck town to begin with'
By KEVIN MARTIN, SUN MEDIA
Convicted rapist David Michael Gendreau said yesterday his race led a Calgary jury to find him guilty of attacking a former co-worker.
"I'm a black man in a white town, a redneck town to begin with," Gendreau told Justice Scott Brooker.
Gendreau, 42, was supposed to be making submissions on what facts jurors must have concluded were proven in finding him guilty of Feb. 1, 2008, charges of sexual assault and unlawful confinement.
But Gendreau spent most of his time arguing why jurors were wrong in accepting evidence he lured his victim to his home and raped her.
Crown prosecutor Gary Cornfield submitted Brooker should rule jurors found several aggravating factors based on the evidence, including that the crimes were planned.
Cornfield noted the victim testified when she went to Gendreau's basement to look at renovations he was doing he began to kiss her.
When she refused his advances he forced himself on her, handcuffing her behind her back and repeatedly sexually assaulting her.
The woman managed to escape, naked from the waist down, after Gendreau fell asleep.
Brooker said while there was some planning, in that Gendreau had handcuffs ready for use, he wasn't willing to find his intention was to rape from the beginning.
The judge adjourned sentencing until Dec. 18, when Cornfield said he will seek a sentence of five to eight years minus credit for time in custody. Gendreau remains in custody pending sentencing.
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