Former SMU groundskeeper testifyies in own defence at sex assault trial
WARNING: This story contains graphic and disturbing content
A former Saint Mary's University groundskeeper facing his second of four sexual assault trials involving different women has begun testifying in his own defence in a Halifax courtroom.
Matthew Percy, 35, is on trial for sexual assault and voyeurism. A former student has accused him of raping her in a campus dorm room last September and filming it without her knowledge. Percy has pleaded not guilty.
The woman told Halifax provincial court earlier this week she had been drinking heavily that night and her memory is fragmentary.
She remembers meeting Percy on a street corner in the city's downtown bar district and they walked back to campus together. She said Percy then attacked her in a room.
Videos police later extracted from Percy's cellphone show him and the complainant engaged in sexual acts. She testified she doesn't remember the incidents shown on the video and was unaware she was being recorded. She said she did not consent to the recording.
The CBC's Blair Rhodes live blogged from court. Mobile users can read here.
Following the woman's often emotional testimony, the Crown introduced evidence from six other witnesses, beginning with the sexual assault nurse examiner who treated the woman the night of the alleged assault.
The last two witnesses were the first police officers to respond to the call of a possible sexual assault on campus. They described the woman as being so emotional she could barely speak.
The court also heard from the officer who arrested Percy, a police photographer who collected images in the dorm room, and a toxicologist who calculated using blood-alcohol readings that the woman would have been seriously impaired on that night.
Just before the Crown closed its case, defence lawyer Brad Sarson indicated Percy would be testifying in his own defence.
The complainant is one of four women who allege they were sexually assaulted by Percy. He was acquitted earlier this month of charges involving one woman. Charges involving the other two have yet to be tested in court.
Percy is being held in custody as his cases make their way through the court.