Photo: Colin Dacre
The British Columbia Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a young Kelowna man who sexually assaulted his colleague and classmate in 2019.
Gurpreet Singh Gill, 21, was convicted of sexual assault after trial and given a four-month prison term – a prison term served in the community – followed by two years probation.
Gill, found guilty by a provincial court judge, appealed to the British Columbia Supreme Court on multiple fronts. These efforts failed after a recent judgment.
Prior to the sexual assault, Gill and the victim both attended Okanagan College and met at work in Kelowna. They weren’t romantically involved as the victim was an 18 year old immigrant from India. Gill was 19 years old at the time.
During the trial, the victim testified that she visited Gill at his home on the afternoon of March 8, 2019 after initially rejecting Gill’s offer to “watch a movie with me at night”.
When she arrived, Gill wanted her to go to his room, not the living room. The victim testified that she said to him, “Okay, we’re just friends.” Once in the room, Gill locked the door, took away her cell phone and placed it on a table next to the bed.
The victim testified that Gill “offered me to watch a movie,” to which she replied that she was not feeling well and had to leave. Gill started the movie on his laptop anyway and she eventually agreed.
After about 15 minutes, Gill slowly began to make undesirable progress and eventually forcibly hugged and kissed the victim. Her vocal rejection kept him in check for about 15 minutes until he attacked her and held her arms down while he bit her and tried to undress her.
“His hand is on my jeans button and how – and I grabbed his hand and said emphatically, ‘Don’t do it,'” the victim testified, adding that Gill then tried to take off her jacket and sweater.
“Then he put his left arm away and started forcing all of these things. And he threw me on the bed and got up and tried to have sex with me, ”the victim testified, explaining that she couldn’t leave quickly because of the locked door.
The victim testified that Gill attacked or lay on her three times.
As she left Gill’s apartment, she told friends what had happened and contacted the police, who took photos that documented a bruise or bruise on her neck and another injury to her collarbone.
Gill testified in court in his own defense, denying any allegations suggesting they were watching a movie together in his bedroom.
The trial judge eventually accepted the victim’s version of events, stating that Gill’s statement was “not detailed and incoherent”.
On his appeal, Gill alleged certain parts of the process and the evidence was ill-treated. However, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Robert Jenkins noted that all of the questions raised in the appeal were “generally irrelevant” to Gill’s belief.
“It is not a review judge’s job to evaluate each trial judge’s conclusion or guess every testimony of the trial judge,” wrote Jenkins. “It is for this court to determine whether the trial judge’s assessments can be based on a reasonable view of the evidence.”
Gill also tried to argue on appeal that the court “should have wondered” whether it was plausible that a victim of sexual assault would not leave home as soon as possible after the assault, as did Gill’s victim.
“I cannot speculate about what a person who has been sexually assaulted may or cannot do,” the trial judge reportedly stated, which the senior judge believed was the correct answer.
“The trial judge rightly recalled that it is inappropriate to draw conclusions about credibility if she is expected to compare the complainant’s behavior to a mythical standard,” said Jenkins.
Jenkins ultimately denied the appeal and confirmed Gill’s belief.
