Toxicology expert testifies at sexual assault trial of ex-SMU groundskeeper

A woman who says a former Saint Mary's University groundskeeper raped her in a campus dorm room last September would have been seriously impaired at the time of the alleged assault, an RCMP toxicology expert said Wednesday.

Christopher Keddy, who works at the RCMP crime lab in Ottawa, testified for the prosecution at the Halifax provincial court trial of Matthew Percy, 35, who is charged with sexual assault and voyeurism.

He analyzed blood and urine samples taken from the complainant the morning after she says Percy attacked her following a walk home together from Halifax's downtown bar district. 

The concentration of alcohol in the woman's blood hours after the incident was 117 milligrams per 100 millilitres, Keddy said, when the legal limit to operate a vehicle is 80. Keddy calculated the woman's blood-alcohol level around the time of the alleged rape would have been even higher — 166 to 215.

At that level, he said, the woman would have been seriously impaired, and symptoms would have included staggering, stumbling, slurred speech and a lack of awareness of her surroundings.

Woman testified she was drunk

This is the second of four sexual assault trials Percy faces in relation to different women. He has pleaded not guilty. An earlier trial involving one of the women ended in an acquittal.

The voyeurism charge in the current case relates to videos police extracted from Percy's cellphone that show him engaged in sexual acts with the woman. She has testified she did not know the video was being made and would not have consented if she did.

In her testimony earlier this week, the complainant detailed how much alcohol she consumed on the night of Sept. 14, 2017, when she said she encountered Percy outside a downtown bar.

Over the course of that night, the woman said she consumed half a bottle of wine, then had four or five mixed drinks at a bar on the Saint Mary's campus before heading downtown. While downtown, the woman said she drank champagne and tequila shots. She said she was extremely drunk and was left with only fragmentary memories from that night.

Sexual assault examination

The first witness Wednesday morning was a sexual assault nurse examiner who saw the complainant just hours after says she was sexually assaulted. Lynn Dorcas testified she examined the woman and gathered the blood and urine samples that were subsequently sent to Ottawa for analysis.

Dorcas said she also gave the woman antibiotics to deal with the possibility of sexually transmitted diseases and a Plan B or "morning after" pill to terminate any pregnancy.

The trial continues Thursday.

The CBC's Blair Rhodes live blogged from court. Mobile users can follow along here.