On Wednesday, author and former UBC professor Steven Galloway testified in court at his defamation trial that none of the sexual assaults alleged against him by his former paramour ever happened.
asserted
none → testify → paramour
That woman, who can only be identified as A.B. due to a publication ban, told the retired judge tasked with investigating Galloway back in 2016 that the first sexual assault happened on his boat.
asserted
assault → identify → boat
A.B. claimed that they were chatting and playing cards when Galloway suddenly tried to kiss her, and when she leaned away, he grabbed her neck tightly to the point where it was difficult to breathe, kissed her, and said, “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
asserted
it → claim → her
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Then, went the allegation, he grabbed her and threw her in the bunk space above; she somehow got down, disembarked, and, though she had no memory of it, ended up at her home.
asserted
she → go → home
“That never happened,” Galloway told the B.C. Supreme Court.
asserted
Galloway → happen → Court
“It’s hard to know how to dismantle (the allegation) because the entire story is fictional.”
asserted
story → ’ → allegation
He said he couldn’t comprehend a situation where you would choke a woman and ask her if it was that bad.
asserted
it → say → her
The story also didn’t make sense given the size and configuration of the boat’s bunk.
asserted
story → make → bunk
“The idea that I could physically lift her up and throw her into such a space without causing major injury to a person is … just not possible,” he testified.
uncertain
he → lift → person
Galloway and A.B. had a consensual affair from 2011 to 2013.
asserted
Galloway → have → 2013
A.B. first accused him of sexual assault to the university in July 2013, but it wasn’t until 2015 that he — and the rest of Canada — became aware that such allegations existed.
asserted
allegations → accuse → Canada
In a matter of days, Galloway’s career was destroyed.
asserted
career → destroy → days
In 2018, Galloway filed a lawsuit against numerous defendants who repeated A.B.’s claims, as well as A.B. herself.
uncertain
who → file → claims
Most defendants settled before the trial, which began Monday.
asserted
which → settle → trial
In court, Galloway said that he hadn’t taken the boat out at all in March 2011, but there were instances where he and A.B. would use it, sometimes at her initiation.
asserted
he → say → initiation
She would remark to him that it was a beautiful day to go sailing.
asserted
it → remark → sailing
Galloway recalled that she had even asked to go sailing with him because, she told him, her husband’s violent brother was in town and she wanted a safe space.
asserted
she → recall → space
The retired judge who investigated A.B.’s allegations in 2016 found that they were unsubstantiated, and that the sexual assault did not occur, based on a balance of probabilities.
asserted
assault → investigate → probabilities
Now, A.B. will not be testifying to their truth at the ongoing defamation trial, nor will her lawyers be arguing the defence of truth.
asserted
lawyers → testify → truth
It was on this basis that A.B.’s lawyer objected to Galloway’s testimony about his boat.
asserted
lawyer → object → boat
The lawyer argued that because A.B. wasn’t going to argue that her allegations were true, and because the allegations made during the independent investigation weren’t the specific subject of the lawsuit, Galloway’s version of events was irrelevant to the court.
asserted
version → argue → court
Justice Neela Sharma ruled against the objection and gave several reasons why A.B.’s lawyer was wrong in law.
asserted
lawyer → rule → law
Galloway was thus free to speak to the second allegation against him, which arose from an end-of-semester party for the department that also occurred in March 2011.
asserted
that → speak → March
A.B. claimed that Galloway had offered to drive her home, but they ended up at his office where she purportedly woke up, naked, to him attempting to force himself upon her.
asserted
him → claim → her
“None of that happened,” Galloway testified in response.
asserted
Galloway → happen → response
While he did recall having intercourse with her that night, there was no scene where she woke up on her back naked to an attempted sexual assault.
asserted
she → recall → assault
On Tuesday, he testified that their relationship was entirely consensual and that she routinely sought him out for contact.
asserted
she → testify → contact
Regarding the third sexual assault allegation, which was said to have occurred on May 5, 2011, Galloway testified that it was “entirely false.”
uncertain
it → regard → May
Once again, A.B. claimed that she woke up naked in Galloway’s office — but this time, there was semen coming out of her vagina and her assailant was at his computer watching hockey.
asserted
assailant → claim → hockey
Galloway told the court that “This is not a situation where there were two people in a room, and there was a disagreement about what happened” — rather, he was not in the room to begin with.
asserted
he → tell → room
He was at Koerner’s Pub watching the Canucks game with a friend, and afterward attended a reading by another author who was visiting campus.
asserted
who → watch → campus
As proof, Galloway’s lawyer presented the court with a text message chain starting at 6:41 p.m. (11 minutes after the game’s start time), in which Galloway’s friend wrote, “We are watching game at koerners if you’re early.”
asserted
you → present → koerners
Galloway asked the friend to order him a burger and said he’d be there in 20 minutes.
asserted
he → ask → minutes
Galloway added that he couldn’t stream games in his office in 2011.
asserted
he → add → 2011
The rest of Galloway’s Wednesday testimony painted a picture of a Kafkaesque maze through university procedure and beyond.
asserted
rest → paint → procedure
When it came to his initial suspension, it was “verdict first, trial second.”
asserted
it → come → suspension
When the retired judge began her investigation into the allegations, in 2015 Galloway had to sign a confidentiality agreement:
asserted
Galloway → retire → agreement
“I could agree to these terms of this investigation, or I could be terminated,” he said.
uncertain
he → agree → investigation
He would be terminated anyway.
asserted
He → terminate → ?
Throughout the investigation, his accuser’s name was omitted.
asserted
name → omit → investigation
…and 20 more, not listed.
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