A Calgary woman who alleges her ex-boyfriend raped her acknowledged Tuesday that she did not use air quotes when she first told police he “woke up” after forcing her to have sex, a discrepancy highlighted during cross-examination in a trial where the defence is raising sexsomnia.
The complainant, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, testified Monday that she had used air quotes to indicate she was quoting the accused when she said he “woke up” after the alleged assault. However, under questioning from defence counsel Allan Fay, she conceded that in her initial police interview on Oct. 2, 2024, she did not make that gesture.
Police Interview Video Contradicts Testimony
Crown prosecutor Kenna Morris played two video clips from the complainant’s interview with a Calgary police detective to clarify the discrepancy. In the first clip, the woman did not use air quotes when she said the accused “woke up” after the sexual encounter. When Morris asked if she observed any air quotes, the woman replied, “When I said he woke up,” but acknowledged that on the video she did not show it was a quote.
“To my knowledge I thought I gave air quotes,” she said. Morris then played an additional passage where the woman twice mentioned the accused waking up following the non-consensual encounter. Again, no air quotes were visible.
Alleged Assault Details
In her police interview, the complainant said the accused, who was invited to sleep over after a movie night on Jan. 1, 2022, pinned her to her bed and raped her while she struggled and screamed at him to stop. “He didn’t get off me until he finished what he was doing and then woke up and claimed that he was sleeping,” she told the officer.
The accused, who also cannot be named because he and the complainant were former intimate partners, is raising the defence of sexsomnia—a condition where individuals involuntarily commit sexual acts while asleep. The case has adjourned until the fall for the Crown and potentially the defence to call expert witnesses on sleep disorders, with a continuation date to be set next month.
