She drags the beast by its hind legs across the road into the yard. “Good night, Mr. Beauchamp.” Slappy casts me a sad sideways look, lifts a leg, and pisses on my left front tire.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. BLUEMAN
Q
Your full name?
A
Egan Matthew Chornicky.
Q
And you are in first-year law at the University of British Columbia?
A
Just barely.
THE COURT:
Mr. Chornicky, what do you have in your mouth?
WITNESS:
Juicy Fruit gum.
THE COURT:
Well, take it out. (Witness removes gum.)
Q
I want you to recall November twenty-seventh last. You attended a student dance that evening?
A
Mm-hmm, I did.
Q
And did you see the complainant, Ms. Martin, and the accused, Mr. O’Donnell, at this dance?
A
I think I saw them. I was working the bar.
Q
Okay, well, after the dance, did you go somewhere with them?
A
I remember we piled into a bunch of cars, I can’t remember who I went with.
THE COURT:
Mr. Chornicky, do you have a handkerchief?
A
No, why?
A
You are playing with that gum. (Witness drops gum in glass of water.)
THE COURT:
Thank you.
Q
Where did you go?
A
I don’t know, actually. Some house these guys were renting. Seemed like it was in the East End.
Q
And what happened there?
A
Basically not much. . Well, the one thing I remember is Kimberley showed up dressed like a man.
Q
She showed up. . What?
A
I remember her giving a speech from a play, Hamlet or one of those. To be or not to be.
Q
And Professor O’Donnell was there?
A
No. . Yeah, he must’ve been, ‘cause we dropped him off at his house in a taxi.
Q
Did you go into his house?
THE COURT:
Witness, are you having some problem?
A
I’m trying to recollect how we ended up there — I guess he invited us in for a drink.
Q
Who was with you?
A
Charles Stubb, I remember. A couple of girls. Maybe someone else.
Q
And did you see Kimberley Martin there?
A
Uh-huh.
THE COURT:
Uh-huh doesn’t register, Mr. Chornicky.
A
Say what?
THE COURT:
Say yes or no. For what it’s worth, this all has to be transcribed.
Q
Do I take it correctly that you had something to drink that night?
A
You take it correctly.
Q
Do you remember anything that happened in his house?
A
I remember he gave us fifty dollars to get rid of us.
Q
Fifty dollars to get rid of you. . and you were going to leave Ms. Martin behind?
A
No, I don’t think that was the deal. Didn’t she come with us? I think we sort of had to carry her out. . Or maybe that was somebody else.
Q
Maybe it was you, Mr. Chornicky.
A
Maybe.
MS. BLUEMAN:
No further questions.
THE COURT:
Mr. Cleaver?
MR. CLEAVER:
I don’t dare.
THE COURT:
Witness, you may be excused. (Witness leaves.)
MS. BLUEMAN:
I call Mr. Charles Stubb. (Witness is duly sworn.)
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. BLUEMAN
Q
Mr. Stubb, you are a second-year law student at UBC?
A
Yes, I am. I’m also vice-president of the student council there.
Q
Okay, will you turn your mind to November twenty-seventh last year, and did you attend a dance that night?
A
Yes, sponsored by the Law Students’ Association, of which I am the treasurer. I went with Ms. Paula Yi, another student, though not studying for our chosen profession -
Q
Thank you. And did you see any of your professors at this dance?
A
Oh, several — we asked the whole faculty.
Q
Professor Jonathan O’Donnell in particular.
A
He was there. He was — well, he still is — acting dean.
Q
All right, did you observe him that evening in the presence of Kimberley Martin?
A
I saw them talking and laughing together.
Q
Did they dance?
A
They did. I didn’t see anything unusual about it. She danced with a couple of the other lecturers, too.
Q
Okay, after the dance you went somewhere. Tell us about that.
A
Well, everyone had been invited to a house party on Broughton Street in the West End. Professor O’Donnell thought he might have had a few too many drinks and asked me to drive his car.
Q
What was his condition?
A
He was wise not to drive.
Q
How much had you drunk yourself that night, Mr. Stubb?
A
I was sticking pretty much to soda water.
Q
And what about Ms. Martin?
A
She’d had quite a few.
Q
Carry on.
A
We went to this party — it was about one o’clock in the morning, and I think we stayed for almost an hour, and then it was arranged that we would take Professor O’Donnell home and he would pay for our taxis.
Q
Yes.
A
And then he invited us in — Paula, myself, Egan Chornicky, and Kimberley — for a last drink. And everything was. . normal, comfortable, the professor and I were engaged in quite an interesting political debate. And then Kimberley gave us all parts to recite from Saint Joan. I thought it was quite enjoyable. Then she did something I thought was a little odd at the time. She disappeared and came back in the room wearing what looked like one of Professor O’Donnell’s suits. I have since realized upon reading the play -
Q
And then what happened?
A
And, ah, she was being very theatrical — she’d found this terrible tie and was having fun with Professor O’Donnell over it — and we carried on with the play some more, and she suddenly just fell asleep.
Q
Kimberley Martin.
A
Yes, on a big chair by the fire. And we called a taxi, and it came in a few minutes and that was about it.
Q
What time was that?
A
About three-thirty in the morning.
Q
And what about Ms. Martin?
A
We left her behind.
Q
Why?
A
Well … no one wanted to wake her up. I think Professor O’Donnell was getting a blanket for her when the taxi came. I wasn’t afraid for her, if that’s what you’re hinting. Professor O’Donnell isn’t someone I would dream of acting in any improper way.
Q
That’s all.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. CLEAVER
Q
You can’t conceive of him doing this.
A
Not really.
Q
Did you ever see him, at any time that night, act towards Miss Martin other than as a complete gentleman?
A
No, sir.
Q
He did not seem to be pursuing her in any way?
A
If anything, the reverse.
Q
No leering, pawing, suggestive words.
A
Nothing like that.
Q
By the end of the night, you would have to say Kimberley Martin was heavily intoxicated?
A
Yes, I think she’d had too much.
Q
And people in that condition have a habit of imagining things that never happened, don’t they? Ms.
BLUEMAN:
Oh, good God.
MR. CLEAVER: