A Dublin firefighter charged with the rape of woman in Boston in March has been further remanded in custody by a US judge as he faces a supreme court trial.
Terence Crosbie (37) re-appeared in court in Boston on Wednesday.
Mr Crosbie was visiting the US city as members of the Dublin Fire Brigade took part in the St Patrick’s Day parade.
He was charged on March 18th with the alleged rape of a woman at the Omni Parker House hotel on Friday, March 15th. Dublin Fire Brigade has placed Mr Crosbie on leave since the charges emerged. He has denied the charges and claims he never said a word to her.
According to US media reports and Boston 25 news channel, Mr Crosbie appeared in Boston Municipal Court on Wednesday for a hearing at one of his attorney's request over additional records from Omni Parker House and the Black Rose pub in the city’s downtown area – two locations where Mr Crosbie was the night of the alleged attack.
Mr Reilly informed the court that his team received some footage from 10.45pm last Tuesday and that they are looking for a more detailed window of video surveillance from both the pub and the hotel. They are also requesting employee information from the hotel.
Mr Reilly said: “CCTV footage from bars and hotels tends to be written over after 30 days. We want to make sure we get to that before it might disappear, before memories might fade, in case it shows anything that is exculpatory or might serve as alter impeachment evidence.”
The prosecution argued that the defence's request for employee information is too vague, not specific and irrelevant. They claimed that Boston Police Department had adequately obtained records during their investigation and the defense should subpoena the police records.
The judge informed the court that Mr Reilly should obtain the records relating to Mr Crosbie’s actions and those he interacted with on the night in question. He added that it is understandable that the defence may want to obtain the records themselves and “not rely solely on the Commonwealth.”
Mr Reilly said his client maintains his innocence and that the case will likely proceed to the Massachusetts Supreme Court.
He is being held on $100,000 bail and was ordered to surrender his passport and remain in Massachusetts.
Court documents show that the alleged victim told police that she woke up to Mr Crosbie sexually assaulting her, and after she told him to stop as she did not know him, she claimed he replied: "This guy is sleeping. I know you want this.”
The alleged victim told police in a report, the incident all started on March 14th at the Black Rose Irish pub near Faneuil Hall where she met a man from Ireland.
She told police they returned to his room at the Omni Parker House hotel where they had consensual sex. Afterwards, she told police they fell asleep in separate beds. The two men who knew each other were sharing the hotel room.
Boston police interviewed a 28-year-old woman at Massachusetts General Hospital. She informed them that she had been sexually assaulted at the Omni Parker House earlier that same morning.
Detectives secured CCTV footage from the hotel and from the Black Rose.
Police learned that Mr Crosbie had flown to Boston from Ireland on that same day, March 14th, with Fire Brigade members. They were scheduled to leave the following Tuesday, March 19th.
Following an interview with police on Saturday, March 16th, Crosbie booked a flight for 10.10pm the same night, instead of flying out on the following Tuesday.
However, at Logan airport in Boston, Mr Crosbie boarded an earlier flight, departing at around 7pm. However, Massachusetts State police stopped the plane on the airport tarmac and removed Mr Crosbie.
Speaking outside the courthouse, Mr Reilly added: “At this time, he has professed his innocence. He is maintaining that, and he is looking forward to fighting the case.
“I think he was scared and didn’t have anywhere to turn. So where does one go when one is worried and scared? One goes home.”
"The consulate was not open on the weekend. So I think that was probably what was going through his mind”.
