Husband testifies to knowing accused for over 30 years, recalls discussions on faith and charity

The husband of the complainant in a rape case testified on Wednesday that he knew the accused for more than three decades and their discussions often centred around God and the Bible.

Giving evidence via Zoom, the man told the nine-member jury in the No. 4A Supreme Court that he had known the accused, Oliver Chesterfield Fields, for over 30 years before the alleged incident.

Fields, 71, of Edey Village, Christ Church, is charged with having sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent, knowing that she did not consent or was reckless as to whether she consented on September 28, 2020.

The witness testified that Fields took him to various locations to conduct “ministry”, and also often chauffeured him and his wife when they had to run errands.

“He told us God told him he must help us because we are not feeling well,” he added.

The man said that in June 2020, he asked the accused if he knew anyone who did tiling as their bathroom needed work, and Fields volunteered to do it as a gift, informing the couple that they only needed to buy the tiles and cement.

“When I asked him how much for the job, he said it would cost $800 but we did not have to pay him,” the witness recalled.

He said Fields started the job in the last week of August and would often work between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. but would not come every day.

The husband testified that on the date of the alleged rape, he left home early to go to the credit union to pay a bill and returned around 11 a.m. He remembered Fields leaving soon after he got home but did not question it. He also said that his wife did not tell him at that point what had happened. “Later, I noticed (she) was in pain, and she went to the doctor,” he told the court, adding that it was only after this visit that she told him that Fields had raped her.

When asked by Senior State Counsel Joyann Catwell, who is prosecuting the matter along with State Counsel Maya Kellman, if his wife had later given a reason for not telling him what happened, he replied that she told him Fields warned her that he [the husband] would have a heart attack if she told him.

During the cross-examination by defence attorney Neville Reid and Kristin Vanderpool, the husband said he did not question Fields’ early departure on that day as the man had said he had to attend to “some business”.

The witness said he left home around 8 a.m. that day, and his wife had been in a good mood then. When he returned home, she did not say anything to Fields when he left their house.

Reid then questioned the witness about Fields giving the complainant a ride to see her grandson on October 7, 2020, and asked if she had arranged it. The husband said he had contacted Fields about it before informing his wife.