A judge has sided with CTV News and The Windsor Star and lifted a publication ban on testimony in a sexual assault case against Ben Johnson, a Windsor Spitfire.
The player faces one count of sexual assault, for an alleged incident on Jan. 13, 2013 at the Krooked Kilt bar.
In a second alleged sexual assault involving a 16-year-old in the washroom of the bar Mynt, a preliminary hearing was held and Johnson was committed to stand trial.
Testimony Friday in provincial court included the 20-year-old defendant's alleged conduct at the Krooked Kilt.
Even though a publication ban has been lifted, the complainant and witnesses cannot be identified.
So far, two women have taken the stand.
The case before the court deals with an alleged incident inside a bar, the Krooked Kilt. A woman in her early 20s testified she and a friend went into the men’s bathroom because the women’s was occupied.
As the two were leaving the stall, the witness testified, "Someone, a male, pushed her back into the stall."
She goes on to say, "He was trying to close the door. I was trying to open it, but he was too strong.”
The witness says after about 30 seconds her friend came out. She was shocked and didn't know what to say.
Only after the women were out of the washroom and in the bar did the complainant tell her friend what happened. The witness says the complainant told her, “He whipped it out; he tried to make me do stuff to him."
At the time the witness did not know who the man was, but after speaking with other bar patrons, she alleges the man in the washroom was Ben Johnson.
In cross examination, defence lawyer Pat Ducharme wanted to know how much alcohol the women were drinking the night of the alleged assault. The witness says neither she, nor the complainant were drunk, although she can't remember what they were drinking or how much they had.
Ducharme says the complainant’s brother told police his sister was, “Pretty drunk,” the night of the alleged assault.
The witness says she completely disagrees saying the complainant, “Looked fine to me.”
Earlier in the week, another young woman, also in her early 20s, brought forward similar testimony. Again in the same men’s bathroom, this witness says a man knocked on her stall door and when she opened it, she alleges he said, “I thought you were going to give me a blow job."
The witness laughed and refused.
But she says the man then said, "Well, will you at least lift your shirt?”
In her statement, the woman told police she laughed it off as a joke and says she did not feel threatened and wasn't touched in any way.
Again in cross examination , Ducharme pointed out the witness did not know who the man was until she talked to some friends and did some research online.
Only then, says the witness, did she identify the suspect as Ben Johnson. Ducharme stated he believes all of the witnesses colluded with each other against Johnson.
The judge will still hear more testimony from other witnesses before she makes her determination as to whether or not any of that evidence will be admissible.
The court has set aside another four days, beginning September 30, to hear that evidence.
