HALIFAX -- A defence lawyer is questioning a young Halifax woman about her decision to sleep in a room with four British sailors in the barracks of a military base, and a kiss she gave one of the men.
The complainant confirmed she felt fearful at 12 Wing Shearwater near Halifax on the evening of April 9, 2015, after she lost her friend, and she reiterated that she did not leave the barracks because she did not want to abandon her friend.
The young woman has testified in Nova Scotia Supreme Court that she decided to sleep in the room with four men next to a sailor, as it was where she had been hanging out earlier in the evening and was the only room that was familiar to her.
She has told the court she gave the sailor sleeping next to her a goodnight kiss, as if to say "thank you" for letting her sleep there, and when she awoke she was being sexually assaulted by at least three men.
Defence lawyer Ian Hutchison appeared to suggest Tuesday that she could have slept in the hallway of the barracks, the lobby, or on the floor of barracks room rather than in the bed.
The complainant became emotional and said: "You're not going to feel safe no matter what you do... When you're in a barrack room with four men, stupid me thought I had some sense of security."
Hutchison also quizzed the woman about the kiss she gave the man in bed next to her, and suggested it was in fact "more than just a goodnight kiss."
"I would obviously disagree," the woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, said as she took the stand for a fifth day.
"As an adult and a woman and someone who understands consent, (I am) fully capable of knowing if I did or did not have any intention that night of doing any further than kissing the man... I do know that my intention was not for anything more than that."
Darren Smalley, 38, is charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm and participating in a sexual assault involving one or more people at 12 Wing Shearwater.
The case once involved four accused, but charges against two other sailors were dropped, while charges against another man were stayed earlier in the trial because of illness.
The men were in the Halifax area for a naval hockey tournament. The woman's friend had invited her on a double date after meeting a British sailor on Tinder.
