Toronto comic Tony Rosato spun a bizarre and conspiratorial tale of persecution involving Internet porn, incest, extortion, surveillance and Satanism as he took the stand at his harassment trial on Tuesday.
However, Rosato, accused of harassing his wife Leah, did not explain who was involved in the conspiracy against him or why he in particular had been targeted.
The case is "slanderous distortions," "dishonourable" and "disgusting," Rosato told the court.
Rosato, who suffers from Capgras syndrome, described how he concluded his wife was not the woman he married - speculating she had been replaced by one or more twin sisters - and that his infant daughter had also been replaced.
Rosato said he believes Leah's face was digitally removed from their wedding photos and another woman's put in and doubts it was even her who testified against him at the preliminary hearing.
"As far as I can tell, vocally, it was my wife, but I couldn't tell," he testified.
He also said that during a court-ordered supervised visitation with his baby daughter, another couple's child was handed to him by a Children's Aid worker.
"I said 'Excuse me, this is not my daughter,'" he recalled.
Rosato alleged his wife performed in Internet pornography and group sex - which he claims had been prescribed to her as therapy by a psychiatrist - and she had been a victim of incest and dabbled in Satanism, all allegations that have not been raised in court.
Assistant Crown Attorney Priscilla Christie told court that she was dropping the charge against Rosato from an indictable offence to a much less serious charge of summary conviction.
Christie said she was doing it owing to the length of the trial and the 21/2 years the actor has spent in jail waiting for trial.
That means Justice Gordon Thomson could deliver a verdict as early as Wednesday, ending Rosato's time in legal limbo.
"This trial happened today - it's over," defence lawyer Daniel Brodsky said on the courthouse steps.
If Rosato is found guilty, the conviction could be immediately set aside on grounds he is mentally ill; if he is acquitted, the Crown has said its expert psychiatrist will begin proceedings to put the actor in a locked psychiatric ward.
However, if Rosato is found guilty and the charge against him not dismissed because he is mentally ill, Brodsky said he will resurrect an unfinished pre-trial argument over whether the extraordinarily long time it took to get to trial violated Rosato's Charter rights.
