Peter Nygard's defence lawyer tries to poke holes in sex assault allegations

Peter Nygard's defence lawyer attempted on Wednesday to poke holes in thetestimonyof one of the five women the Canadian fashion mogul is accused of sexually assaulting, suggesting that some of whatshe has told courtwas "preposterous" or simply not true.

During cross-examination, which includedseveral testy exchanges, Brian Greenspanattemptedto show contradictions withpast statements the woman, the first of the five to testify,had given to police and lawyers about her interactions with Nygard.

He also zeroed in on the night that Nygard is alleged to have attacked her, which she claims happened at his private bedroom suite at his Toronto headquarters hours after a Rolling Stones concert on Dec. 3, 1989.

This included Greenspan challenging the womanabout her testimony regarding thetime and length of the concert, whether Chinese restaurants were closed afterward, the weather that night and the vehicle Nygard was going to use to drive her home.

Nygard, 82,has pleaded not guiltyto five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinementin alleged incidents involving five women, dating fromthe late 1980s to 2005.

In opening argumentsmade last week, the Crown told jurors thatNygard, the founder of a now-defunct international clothing company,used his power and status to lure andsexually assaultthe women aged 16 to 28 at the time in that bedroom suite.

Invited to concert

The woman, now 62, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, told the Ontario Superior Court of Justiceon Tuesday that on the night of the alleged assault, she was invited to meet Nygardat theTorontoSkyDome,now called Rogers Centre,for the concert.

She said she met him there and that he was joined by two or three other women, including his assistant.

Greenspan cited the statement she gave to police in 1998. In it, he said,the woman told officersthat the Stones came on around 8 p.m. or 9 p.m., played about two hours and ended late.

But Greenspan produced aphotocopy of a ticket stubthat showed the concert started at 6 p.m., andreada review of the concert from that time. Greenspan suggested itended no later than 9:30 p.m.

This led Greenspan to question the woman's earlier testimony that after the concert, she, Nygard and the women he was with had piled into a minivan, drivenup Spadina Avenuelooking to dine at a Chinese food place but that they were all closed.

Greenspan, raising his voice, said that the suggestion that they couldn'tfind a Chinese restaurant open on Spadina Avenue the heart of Chinatown at 9:30p.m.was "preposterous."

The woman countered: "On a Sunday night,"to which Greenspan responded: "On any night. It's just not true."

Greenspan also questioned her testimony that Nygard had offered to give her a ride home later that evening in his Mercedes.

The woman had testified it was cold that evening, but Greenspan pointed out that it was particularly cold, 20 C, and that it had been snowing.

"If it was snowing I suggest to you Mr.Nygard never would have suggested driving you home in a two-seater Mercedes," Greenspan said.

The woman laughed at the suggestion, and said that at the time, around 11 p.m., it was mostly clear.

Greenspan, citing weather records, said that it was just snowingan hour earlier and that it had been snowing for several hours.

The woman had also testifiedthat they went into underground parking at1 Niagara St., Nygard'sheadquarters.

But Greespan countered thatthat garage is at ground level."

"There isno underground, there is no ramp down," he said. "I suggest to you, you don'tknowthat because you were never in it."

Greenspan added that she had told police she waited outside the garage while Nygard got his car.

"I was in the garage or the entrance of the garage," she responded.

Why she waitedto report

Earlier in the day, the woman had testifiedwhy she had waited nine years to report the alleged sexual assault to Toronto police.

She said she had been at a downtownToronto bar with a friend when she noticed an article about Nygard in thesatirical magazine Frank.

That prompted her to tell her friend about the alleged attack, she said. She said he then convinced her to go to the police.

But she said that four or five days after she had given her statement to police, she decided not to go forwardbecause, she said, she was told by another member of the Toronto police force thatNygard's head of security had flown in to find out who spoke to police.

"I panicked, I was afraid for my life," she told jurors.

She said that while on a yoga retreat in Bali, Indonesia, in 2020, she read in The New York Times about a U.S. class-action lawsuit against Nygard, and decided to contact the lawyers in that case and pursue charges in Toronto. She also said she joined the U.S. lawsuit.

"Following the #MeToo movement, things have changed in society, and I think that that type of behaviour it's time for it to stop," she said in court.

But Greenspan questioned the complainant on her motives for coming forward, suggesting she did so to potentially get "significant compensation,"an accusation the woman rejected.

Greenspan also pressed her on her source for the information that Nygard's head of security had flown to Toronto to find his accuser.

"So you were running on hearsay and rumours, unsupported and unsubstantiated, isn't that correct?" Greenspan asked loudly. "I suggest to you that all of what you just said is an outright lie that none of it is true."

The woman wiped away tears following the heated exchange.

Greenspan'scross-examination of the woman continues on Thursday.