'I don't remember': Youth on trial for killing Fort Liard girl testifies in manslaughter case

Lawyers representing the young man accused of killing a girl in Fort Liard, N.W.T, in 2015 wrapped up their case in Yellowknife on Wednesday, with the youth testifying he did not understand the dangerous effects of alcohol.

The girl's body was found by the riverbank in Fort Liard in October 2015. She'd been drinking the night she died and her body showed signs of sexual intercourse, according to forensic evidence presented by prosecutors.

The young man was charged with sexual assault and manslaughter in 2017. The Crown alleges he encouraged her to drink alcohol and left her alone and unconscious by the river before she died.

• Trial will continue for youth accused in Fort Liard girl's death, judge rules

He's already pleaded guilty to sexual assault but is trying the manslaughter charge in N.W.T. Territorial Court. His manslaughter trial began in Fort Liard in February. The defence presented its case in Yellowknife Tuesday and finalized it on Wednesday before Judge Robert Gorin.

A publication ban prevents CBC from publishing the names of the victim, accused and witnesses, or anything that could identify them.

The young man testified in court Tuesday that even though his parents were alcoholics and he'd heard rumours of people who drank too much in Fort Liard, he didn't fully understand what happens when people drink.

He also said he understood the mechanics of how sex happens but was never taught about concepts such as rape or sexual assault. He did not attend classes about sex during school and had a tumultuous home life, he said.

That October night was the first time he'd tried alcohol, he said, and invited the girl and another friend to drink a 26-ounce bottle of Smirnoff vodka he'd found in the community.

"I wanted to check out how it was," he said. "I thought [to drink it] because it was the weekend. I just wanted to drink."

He said they went to a secluded place by the river, where each of the three young people took turns drinking.

When prosecutors questioned him about forcing the girl to drink and sexually assaulting the girl, he told them again and again: "I don't remember."

Prosecutors suggested in cross-examination that he'd planned to give the victim too much to drink and wanted to have sex with her while she was passed out before leaving her by the river.

Judge Gorin has now ordered both sides to submit written submissions by June 15 with final oral submissions scheduled for June 22 in Yellowknife.

Gorin will then deliberate and deliver his judgement in Fort Liard.