Jian Ghomeshi was 'punching me in the head, multiple times,' witness says

As the high-profile trial of Jian Ghomeshi opened Monday, awoman who alleges she was sexually assaulted twice by the former CBC radio host testifiedthat hetwice pulled herhair and ononeoccasionpunchedher in the head multiple times after they started kissing at his home.

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"He pullsmy head down, and at the same time, he's punching me in the head, multiple times," the woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, said in Ontario Court in Toronto.

"I'm terrified. I don't know why he's doing this, I don't know if he's going to stop. Can I take this pain? And my ears are ringing, and I felt like I was going to faint. I'm going to end up passed out on his floor.And I start to cry."

The credibility of the woman's testimony was laterchallenged aggressivelyby Ghomeshi's lawyer, MarieHenein, who called intoquestionher recollection of key events.

Ghomeshi, 48,who lives in Toronto, haspleaded not guilty in courttofour counts of sexual assaultand one count of overcomingresistance bychoking,all related to assaults alleged to have taken place from 2002 to 2003. The trial is by judge onlyand is being heard byJudgeWilliamHorkins.

Wearing a charcoal suit, Ghomeshi sat silent in the courtroom, occasionally scribbling down notes during the trial.

I'm terrified. I don't know why he's doing this, I don't know if he's going to stop.- Witness at Ghomeshi trial

The woman said the two had met at a Christmas party in 2002 and that they had been flirting with one another. She described Ghomeshi, the former host CBC Radio'sQ, who at the time was hosting the CBC show Play, as"charming, fun, happy, charismatic."

She said he later invited her to a taping of his show, which she said she attended two days later. After the taping, she said they went to a nearby pub, then he drove her to her car at a nearby parking lot.

She said she felt safe with Ghomeshi, which was reinforced by the car he drove, a yellowVolkswagen Beetle, she told court.

"He's driving a car that reminds me of a 1960s Disney movie," she said. "So, I'm feeling very safe at the moment, when I'm with him."

Grabbed hair

When they got to the parking lot, they began kissing in his car, she said. Suddenlyand unexpectedly she said Ghomeshi grabbed her hair "very hard."

Shesaid that it was an instant switch and that Ghomeshi suddenly reverted "to the nice guy and I questioned whether he actually meant to hurt me."

"I was thinking, 'Perhaps he doesn't know his own strength. Or ... in the future, this is something we'll have to sort out."

He went from beingreally nice, tothis rage. Dark.- Witness in Ghomeshi trial

The woman said she went to threetapings of Play. At the third taping, the witness said she brought a friend with her. The two women andGhomeshi later went to a pub, but only the complainantand Ghomeshi went back to his place.

She said they were on his couch, kissing and then they stood up and continued kissing.She said that's when Ghomeshi went behind her,pulled her hair, pulled her to her knees, and then punched her in the right side of her head.

"He went from beingreally nice, tothis rage. Dark."

She said she wasn't sure if he used a closedor open fist, but that it felt like a closed fist.

'Threw me out like trash'

"After I start crying, Jian says, 'You should go now' or 'You better go now, I'll call you a cab,'" the witness said."He didn't apologize, he didn't ask if I was OK.He threw me out like trash."

She said she waited inside his home for about 10minutes for the cab, and then went to her friend's house.

Crown attorneyMichaelCallaghan asked the woman if there had been any prior discussion about Ghomeshi hitting her.

"Absolutelyno discussion," she said.

Witness cross-examined

During cross-examination,Henein challenged key details of the woman's testimony.

The defence lawyer said that Ghomeshi did not have a Volkswagen Beetle at the time of their meetingbut did have a GTI (Volkswagen Golf) and that Ghomeshipurchased the Beetle"months and months" after their meeting.

The witness said she had arecollection of a bright yellow car thatlooked like a Beetle.

Heneinalso questioned the witness about twointerviews she gave to the CBC where she failed to mention that she and Ghomeshi had been kissing before he allegedlypulled her hair the first time in his car.

"That was a lie," Henein said.

"That was not a lie," the witness said, adding that she was nervous during the interviews, thatgettinginto all the details wasembarrassingand she wasn'tsure of the memory of kissing at that time.

The witnessfirst lodged a complaint with Toronto police on Nov.1. The next day, she wrote an email to police saying that she believed she was wearing hair extensions. But she has since retracted that statement, saying that in fact she was not wearing hairextensions.

"I take it you agree that if you had worn extensions ...that itwould be oddthat your hair was pulled sohard and the extensions didn't end up in Mr. Ghomeshi's hand? Right?" Henein asked.

"I wasnot wearing extensions," the witness replied.

Henein also quizzed the witness on another email she had sent police, in which she said Ghomeshi had smashed her head against the window of the car. The witness agreed with Henein that that had not occurred but that her head had been leaning upagainst the window.

The witnesssaid in that email to police she had been thinking out loud, trying to remember events and that she didn't choose her words carefully. She said she had told a friend that had she beencloser to the window, her head would have smashed into the glass. But the information that was relayed to police was that Ghomeshi had smashed her head against the window.

"When I wrote that to [police], it was incorrect," she said.

Earlier,Henein asked the witness if she hadtold her friendafterher firstmeeting with Ghomeshi thatshe was "smitten" with him, impressed that he was famous, and taken aback by him.

"I don't recall saying anything of the sort," the woman said. "That is incorrect."

'I really liked him,' witness testifies

Henein askedher if she had said she wanted to see him again, was very excited about seeing him again and that she couldn't stop talking about him.

"I will accept thatIreally liked him. I thoughthe was a really nice person, intelligent and charming and a gentleman. It was that one incident that Ihad that Iwas unsure if it was just him not knowing his own strength," she said, adding that she did want to see him again.

Ghomeshi faces a separate trial in June on anothercharge of sexual assault. Hewas originally charged with seven counts of sexualassault, but theCrown withdrew two of thosecharges in May, saying there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

The charges in today's trial stem from complaints made by three women. The woman testifying todayalleges Ghomeshi sexually assaulted her on two occasions. Two of the women's identities are protected under a publication ban, but one of the complainants,actressLucyDecoutere,went to court to waive that right.

Ghomeshi fired by CBC

The CBC firedGhomeshiinOctober 2014 after executives saw whatthey described as graphic evidenceconsisting of videos, photos and text messagesthat he had physically injured awoman.

In a lengthy Facebook post following his dismissal, Ghomeshiadmitted to engaging in rough sex with his partners, butsaid it was always consensual.

But media reports quickly followed in which several women allegedGhomeshiphysically and sexually attacked them without their consent.