Three men accused of sexually assaulting a young woman broke down into tears of relief as they were cleared of all charges Thursday afternoon.
Albert Donald Piche, Julian Niskakowski and Adam Andrew Boyd were found not guilty of charges stemming from an incident alleged to have occurred on March 24, 2011 in the Renegades clubhouse. These included administering a noxious thing with intent to endanger and two counts of sexual assault with a weapon, threats or bodily harm.
The alleged victim, a young woman who cannot be named under a publication ban, attended a party at the Fir Street house with her College of New Caledonia roommate. The woman testified that she was allegedly forced to have repeated sexual intercourse with the three men and take cocaine.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Ballance said Crown counsel did not meet the high standard of proving the defendants' guilt.
"It's essential to understand, in our criminal law system, even if I believe that the accused person is probably guilty, is likely guilty, it's not good enough. It's not sufficient," Ballance said in her decision.
Ballance questioned the complainant's credibility, noting she was not forthcoming to the interviewing police officer about the fact she had voluntarily snorted cocaine at the party. The woman justified that by saying the officer had not pointedly asked her whether she had taken cocaine.
The complainant's unreliability also led Ballance to reject the Crown's theory that the drug ecstasy was slipped to her in a clandestine way.
"She was highly intoxicated, she became foggy and ventured into a dreamlike state and had only fragmented memory of what happened," Ballance said.
