The judge presiding over the Jian Ghomeshi sex assault trial said he will render a verdict next month.

Justice William Horkins said court will reconvene on March 24 after both the Crown and the defence wrapped up their closing arguments Thursday.

Both the Crown and the defence did not take long with their summations, each advising the judge on how he should approach the credibility of the witnesses.

The three women who took the stand and accused the former CBC radio show host of choking, slapping and punching them during intimate moments together were all present in court, sitting in the front row opposite Ghomeshi’s family. They listened intently as the lawyers went over their testimony, the inconsistencies in what they said and the contact they had with Ghomeshi afterwards.

Look at totality of evidence, Crown says

Crown Attorney Michael Callaghan told the judge the behavior of the women after the alleged assault took place shouldn’t be a factor in his decision nor should the fact that they delayed disclosing some of the evidence.

“The evidence of each complainant described use of force without consent and were sexual in nature,” he said.

The incidents in question took place in 2002 and 2003 but were not reported to police until 2014. However all three women didn’t disclose to police the nature of their contact with Ghomeshi after the alleged incidents took place.

Callaghan recounted how the first witness left Ghomeshi’s house in tears and wondered what she did to deserve being punched after he had been sweet to her for most of the night.

“There was a shocking switch in his behavior and she was wondering what caused it. So she wrote him and sent him a picture using whatever commodity she thought would get him – her body,” he said.

The second witness was a people-pleaser and kept contacting him to “normalize” the situation so that things wouldn’t be “awkward” when she ran into him at industry events, he said in an attempt to explain why she sent him flowers and continued to write him notes asking to get together after the alleged assault.

The third women said she didn’t want to seem “hysterical” and had to think what confronting Ghomeshi would do to her brother’s career in the music industry. She conceded on the stand she didn’t tell police she invited him back to her place after the assault for a sexual encounter because she was embarrassed.

Callaghan said their testimonies shouldn’t be dismissed just because they didn’t act in a way that is “stereotypical” of assault victims.

“We may not indulge in same type of behaviour but that doesn't mean we should dismiss what she is saying because we wouldn't do the same,” he said.

He urged the judge to look at the totality of the evidence rather than focus on the inconsistencies in each of the statements because people’s memories are inherently fallible.

“Witnesses provided explanations why there were inconsistencies and delayed disclosure but when you look at totality of evidence, you will see beyond a reasonable doubt the truth about the allegations,” he said.

Defence accuses witnesses of perjury

Defence attorneys Marie Henein and Danielle Robitaille on the other hand slammed the women and accused them of only admitting to contacting Ghomeshi after the alleged assaults after the evidence had been presented during cross-examination. They said it wasn’t their behaviour after the alleged assaults that they were questioning but rather the facts they didn’t give police and the facts they changed in their stories.

The first witness who cannot be named under a publication ban was confronted with emails she sent to Ghomeshi years after their date that had allegedly gone awry.

She had told police she was too traumatized by the incident to even listen to his voice on the radio or watch him on TV but in the emails, she asked him to call or email her, asked him to check out a video she appeared in and set him a photo of herself in a bikini.

“If not that we had discovered this independently we would not have heard the truth,” Henein said.

The second witness, ‘Trailer Park Boys’ actress Lucy DeCoutere, never told police about emails she had sent him after a date where she claimed Ghomeshi slapped her three times and put his hands around her neck.

In one email sent mere hours after their date she says to him, “You kicked my a** last night and that makes me want to f*** you tonight.”

When cross-examined last week, DeCoutere, who chose not to have her identity protected under a publication ban, said the email pertained to their cerebral connection rather than what had physically transpired between them.

But in a hand-written love letter sent to Ghomeshi days after the alleged abuse, DeCoutere writes about the date that she was “sad we didn’t spend the night together” and ends the letter by saying “I love your hands.”

“On the question of whether or not the Crown has proven non-consent in this count, here is disappointment that they did not have sex,” Robitaille said as DeCoutere shook her head to herself from where she sat in the public gallery.

Henein said the women lied under oath when they gave statements to police and dismissed the witnesses explanations that they were nervous while talking to police, were unclear about the legal process and didn’t think the information was relevant.

The third witness, for instance, told police that after the alleged assault she made sure she only hung out with Ghomeshi in public but failed to mention that she once invited him back to her place where she masturbated him. When confronted about her omission during cross-examination, the witness said she was embarrassed to admit that to police.

“There is not an expert that will testify that perjury is the result of trauma,” she said. “Abiding by oath does not require a lawyer or a sophisticated knowledge of the law. The directions are simple – tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth – so claiming ignorance of the law doesn’t excuse lying under oath.”

Was there collusion?

The defence also urged the judge to consider the 5,000 messages that were exchanged between DeCoutere and the third complainant before that complainant testified as proof that they colluded in their plan to bring Ghomeshi down.

“This is evidence that is extensive,” Henein said.

The Crown made it a point to say in his summation that despite the number of emails exchanged, the women never discussed specifics of the case but rather turned to each other for support as they were both going through the same experience and the same criminal process.

Henein said the case should be "judged on the facts and not emotions."

Ghomeshi, who did not take the stand during the eight-day trial, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance, choking.

When the allegations first surfaced in 2014, he posted a Facebook message admitting he liked rough sex but insisted he only engaged in acts that were consensual. He has remained silent since then.