ANTIGONISH, N.S. — The third day of the sexual assault trial for Jonah Williams and Tyler Ball focused on the issue of consent.
The defence pushed the narrative that the alleged victim consented to a threesome with her fellow St. F.X. students during a party on St. Francis Xavier University campus on Nov. 17,2017.
The young woman, meanwhile, maintained under her second day of cross-examination that she did not consent.
The morning was largely consumed with the defence attorneys comparing statements the woman made during the preliminary inquiry a year and a half ago with her testimony this week.
The victim has acknowledged that she was having consensual sex with Williams in his dorm room that evening. But that at some point there was a knock at the door and a group of male students entered the room.
The court heard testimony from one of those students, Williams’ roommate, on Wednesday who said he and three friends went to the dorm room to top up their drinks.
The roommate, whose name is banned from publication, told the court that they opened the door and immediately closed it when they saw a young woman in one of the beds.
Williams came out to them in the hall and said they could come in and fill up their drinks.
“Jonah Williams looked at the (the young woman) and said ‘Would you be down for a threesome?’ and she said, ‘Sure, I don’t care,'” the defence attorney said to the witness.
“Yes,” he responded.
“Was there anything in her response that suggested she wouldn’t understand what that would be?” asked the defence attorney.
“No,” the roommate responded.
“She was a little embarrassed when asked to pick who to have a threesome with.”
The roommate’s account differs largely from the alleged victim’s, who testified that she was never asked and never consented to a threesome.
When the other male students left the room, Tyler Ball stayed.
The alleged victim claims she attempted to prevent Williams from having further sex with her and to prevent Ball from putting his penis in her face as she lay on the bed.
The incident ended when a friend of the victim began banging and yelling at the door, demanding to be let in.
The two accused, who both played football for St. F.X., were removed from the X-Men roster after the allegations surfaced and neither attends the school anymore.