A woman originally charged with participating in a sexual assault at the Renegades clubhouse - only to later see the charges dropped - shed little light on the incident when she took the stand Monday during the opening day of a trial of three alleged gang members.
Celini Junio repeatedly said she did "not remember" and did "not know" when asked for details regarding her and the alleged victim's visit to the clubhouse during the evening of March 23, 2011, other than to say they had been drinking and ingesting cocaine.
Junio said she could only remember "random flashes" of what happened and protested that "we were all drinking, on drugs" when pressed for further comment during cross-examination.
Albert Donald Piche, Julian Niskakoski, and Adam Andrew Boyd all face charges of assault, unlawful confinement or imprisonment, administering a noxious thing with intent to endanger and two counts of sexual assault with a weapon, threats or bodily harm. Junio faced the same charges for a time but they were dropped after the complainant changed her mind about what happened, the court heard during testimony.
Prior to testifying, Junio was assured anything she said could not be used in a subsequent criminal action. Junio did say she and the alleged victim, who cannot be named under a publication ban, were roommates and attended College of New Caledonia.
They, Junio's sister and two others went to the clubhouse.
Three of them later left because they did not drink, Junio agreed, while she and the alleged victim remained at the clubhouse.
Junio said she remembered being very intoxicated and then going upstairs to lie on a bed because she did not feel well. She remained there for the rest of the night. When she woke up the next morning, Junio said the alleged victim came into the room and said she wanted to go but appeared to be fine.
After Junio's sister picked them up and drove them home, the woman went to class, Junio testified.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Ballance is hearing the trial by judge alone, which is expected to last five days.
In an opening statement, Crown counsel Cassandra Malfair said the court is expected to hear the alleged victim and four others were at a soccer game when Junio?s sister said she wanted to purchase a phone from Boyd and suggested they join her in a trip to the clubhouse.
They agreed, Malfair said, because "the girls thought it would be funny to go to a motorcycle clubhouse."
Later that night, the woman was allegedly forced to have repeated sexual intercourse with the three on a couch in the upstairs bedroom, had her face shoved into a pile of cocaine and was penetrated with a vodka bottle, the court is also expected to hear.
Further, it's also expected the court will hear the woman woke up the next morning, initially felt nothing had happened, went to her first class, "and then by the second class, she began to feel the effects of the evening's events and she broke down and cried uncontrollably," Malfair said.
In other testimony, RCMP Cst. Phil Charron said he found two vodka bottles in a recycling bin and, in one of the two upstairs bedrooms, two condoms and a baggy commonly associated with cocaine.
The trial continues today.
