Two more women testify in sexual assault trial
Alleged victim describes drink hitting her like ‘five or six tequila shots, all at once’
Two more women testified in court Tuesday as the sexual assault trial of a former Edmonton club promoter continued into its fourth week, with the defence questioning their memories and level of intoxication.
Matthew Mcknight is on trial, charged with 12 counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual assault causing bodily harm against 13 different women between the summers of 2010 and 2016.
One of the women said in court Tuesday she was given a drink by Mcknight at Knoxville’s Tavern during a night out in 2015. She said the drink hit her as hard as “five or six tequila shots, all at once.”
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Dino Bottos suggested Mcknight and the woman kissed in Mcknight’s kitchen and bedroom, engaged in oral sex and then had intercourse during an after-party before he offered to pay for her cab home. He also questioned the woman’s level of intoxication, referring to previous statements she gave that on other occasions she had consumed close to 40 ounces of vodka over a fivehour span.
The woman, who is not being named due to a publication ban, said she remembered having oral sex with Mcknight “momentarily” but disagreed with Bottos’ characterization of the night. She said she told Mcknight she was in pain and she wanted him to stop. The woman said that during the alleged assault she heard her friend knocking on the bedroom door but she could not find her voice to call out.
She said her friend came into the room afterwards and the two quickly left the apartment. The court heard the two women ended up at the legislature grounds where they were helped by security. They made statements to police and went to an Edmonton hospital before going home.
During cross-examination, Bottos pointed out discrepancies between the police statements and Tuesday’s testimony.
“I was distraught, I was in shock, I wanted to go home,” said the complainant. “At that moment my brain wasn’t processing the night.”
The woman’s friend also testified Tuesday. Postmedia is not identifying her as it could potentially identify the complainant.
The complainant’s friend said after they arrived at Mcknight’s apartment, he made a drink for them before the two women went outside on a balcony for a smoke. The friend said she stayed outside longer than the complainant to talk on her phone.
Once inside, she said she couldn’t find her friend and tried to knock on a locked door twice as she looked around the apartment. After returning to the locked door a third time she said she found it open with her friend inside.
“She kept saying, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,’” the woman testified.
She said they left the apartment and walked down a stairwell before she learned of the alleged assault, as her friend burst into tears.
The jury trial is scheduled to continue Wednesday morning.