Men on Trial for Alleged Assault

0:00It's March 20th, here's your Sydney news in two minutes. Two men are facing trial in Darwin's Supreme Court, accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her apartment after picking her up late one night, Paner Midas. Howrelampus and Michael Ruvus each faced four counts of sexual intercourse without consent from an incident last year. The woman, who was in her 20s, had been out drinking and was waiting for an uber around 3.30 a.m. on January 14th when the men approached her. They denied the charges, saying all sexual activity over more than eight hours was consensual. The central question for the jury is whether she could consent given her heavy intoxication. Court footage shows her stumbling out of their car, collapsing several times, and needing help to get inside. Days later, she checked her uber app and saw the real driver's profile did not match either man, raising doubts about who they were. Family and friends describe her to stress the next day. Her mother said the woman told the men to get out and repeatedly said no, even questioning

1:01if she was aware enough to refuse. Her housemate recalled her saying they physically picked her up while she waited for the ride and she woke up to the assault after passing out. A nurse who examined her noted she felt totally out of it, unable to move and had been slapped awake, calling the men horrible. The defense argued she was not too drunk to consent and became flirty on the drive home. An expert reviewed the evidence and estimated her blood alcohol level at between 0-1 and 0-1-5 upon arrival in the high to severe range, with patchy memory gaps. The trial resumes Monday as both sides focus on that key issue of consent.