BY KEITH LACEY
A veteran Sudbury police sergeant has testified he was repeatedly physically and verbally assaulted by the woman who has accused him of repeatedly beating her during their tumultuous time together.
?I?m being falsely accused by this woman...I did nothing (physically) to her,? said Robin Chuipka, who was suspended with pay after being arrested in September, 2004.
Chuipka, 45, has pleaded not guilty to one count of assault causing bodily harm, four counts of assault and one count of sexual assault.
Justice Frank Caputo of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ordered a ban on publication of any evidence that could identify the complainant.
In testimony Tuesday and Wednesday and during cross-examination Thursday, Chuipka repeatedly denied he had ever assaulted the complainant during their time together.
It was the complainant who assaulted him on a regular basis and the only time he ever touched her physically was to stop her during her physical assaults on him, said Chuipka.
When asked by defence counsel Andrew Buttazzoni if the assaults took place as described by the complainant, Chuipka quietly and calmly answered ?no sir? on at least 20 occasions during his testimony.
On several other occasions, he answered ?of course not? when asked by Buttazzoni if he had beaten the woman the way she described during her testimony back in November.
Chuipka said he and the complainant had a ?loving relationship? during most of their time together, but she was insanely jealous and continually accused him of infidelity. This led to virtually every argument they had during their time together, he said.
When arguments would get heated over other women, she would get physical and attacked him on numerous occasions by slapping and punching him. On one occasion, at least, she kicked him in the back of the head with force, Chuipka testified.
When asked by prosecutor Thom Fitzgerald if their only source of discontent was his alleged infidelity, Chuipka insisted it was.
?You?re saying the only issue was her possessiveness...your infidelity?? Fitzgerald asked.
?Yes, it was,? said Chuipka.
During one argument, the complainant attacked him with a claw hammer and while she didn?t hit him, she did smash through a door with the blunt instrument, Chuipka testified.
On another occasion, the complainant tried to bust through a door and ended up cutting herself. She spread the blood across her face and tried to blame him for causing the injury, said Chuipka.
After being accused of sleeping with other woman during another argument, the complainant jumped into the back of his truck while it was moving and started throwing out old hockey sticks and other stuff he owned while he was driving down the highway, said Chuipka.
Never once during their time together did he initiate any assault and he always tried his best to avoid confrontation, but did have to grab her a couple of times to avoid being further physically assaulted, said Chuipka.
When Fitzgerald suggested Chuipka had a serious drinking problem and took out all of his frustrations in life at the time by continually beating the woman, as she stated, he denied it.
The complainant testified Chuipka beat her up on a regular basis over a two-year period and she only came forward to police because she feared for her life.
Chuipka would erupt into fits of rage and resort to violence on a regular basis and often after he was drinking, she testified.
During one incident, he kicked her in the head with enough force to smash a hole in a wall, she said.
?When he was drinking, he would get very abusive,? she said.
She initially didn?t report any of the abuse ?because I didn?t want Robin to get in trouble at work? and he often threatened her that anything she reported to police wouldn?t be believed because of his position as a sergeant, she said.
The trial continues today.
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