The appellant was acquitted of sexual assault at trial after the trial judge accepted a child witness's testimony as truthful and reliable, but found the absence of subjective consent was not the only reasonable inference.
The Alberta Court of Appeal allowed the Crown's appeal and substituted a conviction.
On further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court dismissed the appeal, finding errors of law apparent on the face of the trial judge's reasons.
The trial judge misapplied the law of circumstantial evidence and the law of consent: the complainant, who was asleep and drugged while being dragged from her bedroom, was statutorily incapable of consenting, and no alternative inference was posited or reasonably available.
The conviction was upheld and the case remitted for sentencing.
