The full list of 22 questions the jury needs to answer to convict or clear Russell Brand

The full list of 22 questions the jury needs to answer to convict or clear Russell Brand The judge told the jury there would be ‘no pressure of time’ to reach their decisions - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in Jurors have been given the 22 questions they need to answer during their decision-making on the seven allegations against comedian/podcaster Russell Brand. Brand denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one charge of attempted indecent assault. The court was told Brand “snapped” from charming to nasty as he raped and sexually assaulted women before gaslighting them into believing nothing was wrong. Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC said six different women who do not know each other had come forward to accuse Brand of attacking them over the course of a decade. In her closing speech, she told jurors at Southwark Crown Court the women had not been compelled to come forward by a “magic force” of media reporting on Brand’s alleged misconduct, but had instead been seeking “closure” by speaking to police. They had all described a similar pattern of behaviour from Brand that started with compliments, flattery and flirting before a “personality change”, Ms Karmy-Jones said. She said: “His eyes changed, he snapped, from charming to frightening to nasty.” Ms Karmy-Jones said the women had claimed Brand “didn’t listen when (they) said no, he didn’t stop, he didn’t care, pulling, pushing, tugging, thrusting”. “In the rape cases, he kept on going until he achieved his ultimate aim.” The prosecutor also pointed jurors to several accounts by the women of Brand giving them his phone number or email address in the aftermath of the alleged attacks. “Today it’s something that might be known as gaslighting,” she said. “A technique the defendant used to good effect.” Brand denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one charge of attempted indecent assault. Ms Karmy-Jones told jurors: “In this trial you have seen six different women, wholly unconnected with each other, come before you and tell you what happened to them at the hands of Russell Brand. “These women who finally made their decision to speak, call police, are wholly independent of each other. They don’t even know who the other women in this case are.” She said they had given “vivid” accounts of the alleged offences, and told the jury: “Six women who have nothing to gain, who have not sought the limelight, who have not looked out for some form of publicity, who have not taken part in a documentary, not made claims for compensation. “There is no benefit to them, apart from perhaps some closure by coming before you and telling you their accounts of what happened to them so long ago.” Part of Brand’s defence is that he has faced the criminal allegations after being wrongly accused by other women in the media, in a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary and Sunday Times reporting, in 2023. Ms Karmy-Jones suggested there was no “woo woo” or “magic force” from the media reports that had sparked the women to come forward. “Could a documentary or an article in The Times cause them to completely reinvent what happened in this way?” she asked. Turning to a woman who says she was raped in a hotel room at the Labour Party conference by Brand, Ms Karmy-Jones asked the jury to carefully assess her evidence. She said: “Is that woman some sort of lunatic who would make this story up, reimagine this event after watching a documentary?” The prosecutor added that the woman said in her evidence that she had not even watched the full Dispatches documentary. An MTV worker has accused Brand of trying to drag her into a toilet at work in 2001 when he was one of the channel’s star presenters, but she said she managed to wrench herself away. She gave evidence that the incident lasted for 20 seconds, and the prosecutor pulled out a stopwatch during her speech to show jurors how long the incident had lasted. The court fell silent for 20 seconds, as the prosecutor told jurors to “take a moment” and imagine how long the woman said she was “being pulled into a lavatory”. At the end, she said: “Pulling, not just a gentle grab of the arm and a ‘come in’. Twenty seconds of this.” Brand is accused of groping another MTV worker’s breasts in a Soho bar in 2004, then forcing the woman into oral sex after dragging her to a toilet. He is accused of kissing and groping a radio worker in 2005 in front of members of his entourage, and sexually assaulting a Channel 4 staffer in 2009 by thrusting his head into her lap when the comedian’s aides had forced her to give him a massage. Brand is also accused of raping a 21-year-old fan in 2009 after meeting her at one of his Hammersmith Apollo stand-up performances. Brand gave evidence on Wednesday, saying consent is “more important than sex itself” and denying forcing any of the women into sexual activity. He told the court it was “devastating” when he was first accused of rape and sexual misconduct in 2023 media reporting by The Times, The Sunday Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches. Under questioning, Brand conceded he blames the media “in some ways” for the criminal charges he now faces. The 22 questions jurors have to answer to convict or clear Russell Brand Jurors have been given 22 questions to answer during their decision-making on the seven allegations. Mr Justice Bennathan told the jury they should reach unanimous verdicts and there would be “no pressure of time” to reach their decisions. Here is their route to verdicts. :: Count one – alleged rape in a hotel room during the 1999 Labour party conference. There is no dispute that there was penetrative sex. 1. Are you sure that [complainant 1] did not consent to sex with the defendant? – If no (in other words she may have consented), your verdict on this count is not guilty, you need not consider this count any further. – If yes, go to question 2. 2. Are you sure that the defendant either knew she was not consenting or was reckless as to whether she did or did not consent? – If no, your verdict on this count is not guilty, you need not consider this count any further. – If yes, your verdict is guilty. :: Count 2 – alleged attempted indecent assault at the MTV offices in central London in 2001. 3. Are you sure the defendant tried to drag [complainant 2] into the toilets? – If yes, go to question 4. – If no, your verdict is not guilty, you will not be asked anything further about this count. 4. Are you sure that the defendant did so intending to engage in some sort of sexual touching (even if not sure what type of sexual touching) without her consent? – If no, your verdict on this count is not guilty, you need not consider this count any further. – If yes, go to question 5. 5. Are you sure the defendant knew [complainant 2] would not consent to that sexual touching? – If yes, your verdict is guilty, you need not consider this count any further. – If no, your verdict is not guilty, you need not consider this count any further. :: Count three – alleged sexual assault at a Soho bar. 6. Are you sure the defendant deliberately touched [complainant 3’s] breasts? – If yes, go to question 7. – If no, your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 7. Are you sure that touching was a sexual act? – If yes, go to question 8. – If no, your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 8. Are you sure she did not consent to him doing so? – If yes, go to question 9. – If no [in other words she may have consented], your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 9. Are you sure the defendant did not reasonably believe she was consenting? – If yes, your verdict is guilty. – If no [in other words he may have reasonably believed she was consenting], your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. :: Count four – alleged rape at a Soho bar. 10. Are you sure the defendant put his penis in [complainant 3’s] mouth? – If yes, go to question 11. – If no, your verdict is not guilty, and you need not consider this count any further. 11. Are you sure [complainant 3] did not consent to him doing so? – If yes, go to question 12. – If no, your verdict is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 12. Are you sure the defendant did not reasonably believe she was consenting? – If yes, your verdict is guilty. – If no [in other words he may have reasonably believed she was consenting], your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. :: Count five – alleged sexual assault at a radio station. 13. Are you sure the defendant deliberately kissed [complainant 4] on the lips and/or touched her breasts and/or touched her bottom? – If yes, go to question 14. – If no, your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 14. Are you sure that touching was a sexual act? – If yes, go to question 15. – If no, your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 15. Are you sure she did not consent to him doing so? – If yes, go to question 16. – If no [in other words she may have consented], your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 16. Are you sure the defendant did not reasonably believe she was consenting? – If yes, your verdict is guilty. – If no [in other words he may have reasonably believed she was consenting], your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. :: Count six – alleged rape at Brand’s Hampstead townhouse in 2009. There is no dispute that the defendant put his penis in [complainant 5’s] anus. 17. Are you sure [complainant 5] did not consent to him doing so? – If yes, go to question 18. – If no, (in other words she may have consented) your verdict is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 18. Are you sure the defendant did not reasonably believe she was consenting? – If yes, your verdict is guilty. :: Count seven – alleged sexual assault while filming for a Channel 4 project in 2009. 19. Are you sure the defendant deliberately put his head in [complainant 6’s] lap/groin area? – If yes, go to question 20. – If no, your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 20. Are you sure that contact was a sexual act? – If yes, go to question 21. – If no, your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 21. Are you sure she did not consent to him doing so? – If yes, go to question 22. – If no [in other words she may have consented], your verdict on this count is not guilty and you need not consider this count any further. 22. Are you sure the defendant did not reasonably believe she was consenting? – If yes, your verdict is guilty. The trial continues.