Man couldn’t consent to sex with Skipp Anderson: Crown

WARNING: This article contains graphic content.

Skipp Anderson intended to have sex with a man who was too drunk to consent, a Crown prosecutor argued during closing arguments at the former nightclub owner’s retrial.

Crown prosecutor Katharine Grier argued Anderson, 42, exhibited “odd and questionable” behaviour before he said he got into bed to “cuddle” an unconscious friend. He’d gone into his own master bedroom and changed into pyjamas before entering the spare bedroom with his friend inside.

The former owner of Saskatoon’s Pink Lounge & Nightclub is accused of sexually assaulting a man in July 2016. Anderson had hosted a hot tub party and the assault is alleged to have happened hours after the man, who was 22 at the time, had gotten drunk and been taken to bed in a spare room.

The alleged victim said he had two “bold spiced rum and cokes,” at Anderson’s home, which left him feeling drunk. He drank at a licensed movie theatre earlier in the evening.

The complainant said he doesn’t remember anything between roughly 11:30 p.m. on July 10 and 3:30 a.m. on July 11.

Memory may be one factor, but examples of a person’s inability to consent to sex “can be all over the map,” Grier said.

“There was no capacity to consent here,” she said.

Defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle called the complainant “very, very honest,” except when asked if he consented. The answer should have been “I don’t know,” Pfefferle argued.

He said the complainant was able to speak, use his phone, know that he had to go to school the next day and decide to go back to sleep at Anderson’s house after intercourse.

Grier responded “actions do not determine capacity. It’s the subjective state of mind” of a person that matters.

During the retrial, the defence asked that since the complainant can’t remember it, is it possible that he initiated sex with Anderson. He answered yes.

“If he isn’t sure, how can the court be?” Pfefferle asked during Thursday’s arguments.

Anderson, the Crown argued, remembered quite a bit given he said he had three doubles of the over-proofed rum and claimed to be a “two drink drunk.”

Grier also criticized the timeline of events Anderson gave. He said the men awoke, kissed, had sex, redressed and fell asleep, then repeated the process until the alleged victim told Anderson to stop penetrating him.

They couldn’t have done all of that in Anderson’s proposed timeframe, Grier said, which speaks to the accused’s credibility, she added.

Anderson said he thought the man was sober and consenting during sex. He said they were communicating during the act.

The judge’s decision is expected Feb. 26.

In January 2018, a jury found Anderson guilty of sexually assaulting the man. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

The conviction was overturned in March 2019 after the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal determined the jury heard prejudicial information and wasn’t properly instructed by the judge.