Rob Warren, left, and his client Shawn McLaughlin, centre, and co-accused Graham Belak, right, leave the Whitehorse courthouse on Thursday. (CBC)

The fate of two RCMP officers accused of sexually assaulting a woman while they were off-duty last year is now in the hands of a Yukon Supreme Court judge.

Crown and defence lawyers presented final arguments in Whitehorse on Friday in the trial of Consts. Shawn McLaughlin and Graham Belak, who are both charged with sexual assault in connection with a March 8, 2009, incident in the town of Watson Lake.

Justice Leigh Gower, who has been presiding over the trial since it began on Monday, is expected to render his decision on March 16.

Belak, 30, and McLaughlin, 33, were both off-duty at the time of the alleged assault. They were both suspended with pay from the police force after they were charged.

Both officers have since moved out of Watson Lake, as has the female complainant, who cannot be named because of a court-imposed publication ban.

Different accounts

Lawyers for both sides said Friday the case hinges on who Gower believes is telling the truth.

Court has heard during the trial that Belak and McLaughlin met the woman at a house party, then the three went back to Belak's house.

The woman claimed that McLaughlin held her arms down on the floor while Belak raped her. The officers claimed the woman had been flirting with them all night and she initiated sexual contact with both of them.

Crown prosecutor Robert Beck said Belak and McLaughlin saw an opportunity to assault the woman, who he said was intoxicated and had no close friends at the party.

Beck argued that the officers knew the woman did not know many people in Watson Lake, a town of about 850, so she would therefore be easy to victimize.

Beck added that it wasn't surprising that the woman did tell anyone about the alleged assault for 24 hours, since she didn't know anyone in town and her two alleged attackers were police officers stationed in the community.

Lawyers for McLaughlin and Belak argued that the testimony of their clients was far more credible than that of the woman, who could not remember some details from that night.

Complainant lied, defence argue

Belak's lawyer, Andrew McKay, said the woman lied about the alleged assault in order to avoid telling her husband that she had consensual sex with two other men.

The defence also noted there is no evidence backing the woman's claim that she was drugged before she was assaulted.

McLaughlin's lawyer, Rob Warren, said it would be ludicrous to think the two men would have taken the risk of drugging the woman when she could have easily gone to the hospital afterwards to have her blood tested.

By contrast, the lawyers said, Belak and McLaughlin gave honest, straightforward testimony and had no trouble recalling what happened that night.

On the stand late Thursday, Belak echoed McLaughlin's testimony that the sex was consensual with the woman.

Belak testified that he had no concerns that night about having sex with a married woman, saying she was a grown-up.

He added that even though he had just met the woman on the night of the incident, he had thought he could have a relationship with her.

Belak said he had no worries about an affair being discovered by the woman's husband or his employer. The RCMP wouldn't have an issue with him sleeping with a married woman because it's not a work-related issue, he added.

Belak said while he was not proud of what he had done, he believed there was nothing illegal about his actions that night.