(Vancouver) A defense attorney for former Vancouver Canuck player Jake Virtanen says the woman who claims he sexually assaulted her in 2017 is not a reliable or trustworthy witness.
Posted at 4:55 p.m.
During closing arguments, Brock Martland told the BC Supreme Court jury that there were inconsistencies in the testimony she gave at trial, whereas that was not the case with that of Virtanen.
Martland says that even if the members of the jury no longer know who to believe after hearing all the evidence, they must return a verdict of not guilty.
Virtanen denied in testimony last week that he sexually assaulted the woman in her downtown Vancouver hotel room in September 2017.
He told the court that the woman had been an “enthusiastic participant”.
The 23-year-old, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, testified that she repeatedly said no to Virtanen, but that he used his weight to hold her in place on the bed.