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A sexual assault complainant who testified against her alleged attacker — but then simply refused to finish cross-examination — has presented a rare quandary for the justice system.

The matter in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court underscores the tenuous balance between the right to cross-examine a witness — a cornerstone of the adversarial court process — with the importance of minimizing the potentially traumatic impact the legal system can have on alleged victims.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or N.L. woman leaves court in a quandary after walking out on cross-examination and refusing to come back Back to video

At issue is a he-said, she-said case: A 19-year-old woman said she had been sexually assaulted by a Newfoundland man, but he said the incident never happened. Court documents did not indicate when the alleged assault took place.

“The complainant says that the alleged incident which underpins the charge occurred,” Justice George L. Murphy of Corner Brook said in a decision this month. “The position of the accused is that it did not.”