TORONTO — A female parking enforcement officer categorically denied instigating a sexual encounter with three Toronto police officers after a night of partying with members of the force, the constables’ sexual assault trial heard Thursday as the woman pushed back against claims she had been provocative and flirtatious.
The complainant has testified that after drinking at various bars together, the officers had non-consensual sex with her at a downtown hotel between 12:20 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 17, 2015.
In a new development, the woman also told the court under cross-examination that she was likely “drugged” at a bar before going to the hotel, although she could not say when, by who, or how that may have happened.
Joshua Cabero, Leslie Nyznik, and Sameer Kara have all pleaded not guilty to sexual assault in the case.
Over the course of repeated questions, Nyznik’s lawyer, Harry Black, suggested the woman’s goal was to have sex that night with either Kara, Nyznik, or both.
“I’m going to suggest to you that you went to that party with the hope, the anticipation, that by the end of the night, you would be in that rented hotel room having sex,” he said.
“Absolutely not,” responded the woman, who cannot be identified due to a standard publication ban.
The woman has told the judge-alone trial that she felt powerless and unable to move or speak when the three officers forced themselves on her.
Black grilled her on the events of that night, focusing on her state of mind when she entered a cab to head back to the hotel with two of the officers.
The trial has heard the woman hadseveral drinks that night, including four shots of tequila over the course of about three hours. She has told the court she had a “sudden, intense headache” in the cab and felt like her vision was impaired.
“To what do you attribute these maladies, these ailments, what would you attribute it to?” asked Black, his voice rising.
“I attribute it to being drugged,” the woman said. She couldn’t provide further details but said it may have occurred at a strip club the group of officers had visited.
Black presented the woman with an alternate version of the events that took place that night.
He suggested that at the strip club, a group that included Nyznik and Cabero joked with a stripper about returning to their hotel room to be videotaped having sex.
Black suggested Nyznik told the stripper that the complainant would be the one behind the camera.
“And your answer was ‘why do I have to be the one videotaping? Why can’t I join in?’” Black said to the woman on the stand.
“Absolutely not,” she said.
Black went on to allege that at the hotel room it was the woman who triggered a series of sexual acts.
He also suggested the woman may have been attracted to some of the accused.
He referred to a statement given to police by one of her friends who said the complainant found Nyznik “cute.”
“You went further and said he was very attractive?” Black asked.
“I did not say that, what I said is he is cute until he opens his mouth,” the woman said.
“And you said to her you would do things to him?” Black asked.
“That is absolutely incorrect,” the woman said.
Black also grilled the woman on the clothing she wore that night, saying she chose to don a “really low-cut top” to get attention from the officers at the party. Again, the woman denied that claim.
The trial has heard the woman’s memory became spotty after she arrived at the hotel with two of the accused officers with the intention of dragging the third — who had become sick earlier in the night — out of bed to go to another bar.
The woman has testified that Nyznik forced her to have oral sex and has said all three officers ended up having non-consensual intercourse with her.
Court has also heard that the woman initially did not want to report what happened because the accused were police officers.
The trial continues on Friday.
Liam Casey, The Canadian Press