Cross-examination cuts into complainant’s credibility

Cracks began emerging Tuesday in the credibility of a woman who claims to have been sexually assaulted two years ago at a Penticton motel.

Darren Webb is charged with aggravated sexual assault and assault causing bodily harm in connection with the incident

Aug. 24, 2018, at the Pass Motor Inn. He’s standing trial in front of a judge alone in B.C. Supreme Court. (The allegation date was incorrectly stated in the indictment and in Tuesday’s article.)

A routine publication ban covers any information that would identify the complainant, a woman in her 50s, with whom Webb had a previous relationship.

In her testimony Monday, the complainant explained she had been living at the motel for a few weeks and arrived home from work on the night in question only to be confronted by Webb in her suite.

She said Webb forced her into a separate bedroom, where he began punching her and trying to force sexual intercourse, and also tried choking and gagging her with a towel

The complainant said the attack ended suddenly with Webb ordering her to leave, then kicking her in the buttocks and telling her to go do whatever she had to do.

But according to a transcript of the 911 call the complainant made immediately after leaving the motel, the incident ended differently.

“He told me to go to sleep because I’ve got to work at 7 o’clock in the morning. He told me to go to sleep,” the complainant told the 911 operator.

“Did you lie to the 911 operator or did you lie to the court?” defence counsel Michael

Patterson asked the complainant Tuesday during cross-examination.

“I remember saying this,” she replied, referring to the 911 transcript, “but he did kick me in the butt when I left.”

Patterson also presented a photo of her and Webb, with whom she claimed to have had a non-sexual relationship, which appears to show the two on the verge of sharing a kiss. The photo depicts the complainant with her eyes closed, mouth partially open and head turned towards Webb, whose face is about 10 centimetres away from hers.

“That was him trying to kiss me,” explained the complainant.

RCMP Const. Adam Burton was the second Crown witness to take the stand.

He photographed the complainant at the Pass Motor Inn the morning after the alleged assault.

The complainant had injuries on her body that were “consistent, through my experience, from a possible assault: some bruising, cuts, abrasions,” said Burton, who’s now stationed in West Kelowna.

The trial is expected to last through the week.