Former Vancouver Canuck Jake Virtanen testified in his own defense Thursday during his sexual assault trial in BC Supreme Court.
The 25-year-old is charged with felony sexual assault in connection with an incident in his hotel room at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver on September 26, 2017. He has maintained his innocence.
The name of the complainant, identified as MS, is protected by a publication ban.
Under questioning from his attorney Colleen Elden, Virtanen broke down when asked to describe how he first learned about the allegation.
“We just finished the game against the Maple Leafs. My agent Kevin Epp said I need to talk to [you] immediately. So I called him and he said an anonymous girl would come out and tell me I assaulted her,” Virtanen said.
“I was in total disbelief.”
Virtanen maintains that he and MS had consensual sex in his hotel room. Contrary to his testimony, he said that MS never pushed him or told him no, but that he was a voluntary participant.
“Did you communicate your consent?” Elden asked.
“Yes, she was an active and enthusiastic participant. She definitely felt like she was totally there,” Virtanen said.
Earlier, the defense led Virtanen to explain his path to the NHL, being drafted by the Canucks in 2014 and signing a three-year contract valued at $925,000 annually, noting that the deal was highly publicized on sports television and social networks.
Virtanen said he met MS in July 2017 in the Cowboys tent at the Calgary Stampede, which he described as popular with NHL players. He said that MS and his two friends approached him and his friends and started chatting. He said that even though they didn’t talk about hockey, he felt that MS knew who he was because of the interest he showed in him.
MS previously testified that when she met Virtanen, she did not know who he was, what he did or how much money he made.
Contrary to MS’s testimony, Virtanen said that he and a friend went with MS and a friend in a taxi back to a house that night. He said he was so drunk he threw up and then his friend put him to bed in the basement.
“When I woke up in the morning MS was right next to me,” she said.
“Do you know how he ended up in bed?” asked Elden?
“No,” he replied.
MS previously stated that it was Virtanen who mysteriously appeared in the bed where he was sleeping.
Virtanen said the two chatted and exchanged numbers. He said that while attending the Stampede in the days that followed, MS approached him on several occasions, making him think he wanted to meet him.
Apologies for the defense
Earlier in the day, Brock Martland, one of Virtanen’s attorneys, apologized to MS for a question he asked the day before about whether she was thinking of making up a story about having a yeast infection or her period to avoid having sex with Virtanen
“I wasn’t suggesting that you have an obligation to do these things,” Martland said. “That question was insensitive and I apologize.”
Martland completed MS’s cross-examination on Thursday, investigating how Virtanen’s name appeared in the comments section of the Survivors Story Project’s (SSP) Instagram page after MS posted an account of the alleged assault on the April 2021 that did not appoint him.
Martland then asked MS about a message he sent to SSP, expressing concern about the “harsh” things people were saying about Virtanen because of the fallout.
“I didn’t want to see him hurt,” she said. “I wanted him to be penalized. I did want him to be held accountable.”
The last line of questioning during cross-examination noted the morning after the alleged assault, MS asked Virtanen for tickets to the Canucks’ preseason game on September 28, 2017. He told her he had nothing to share.
MS and a friend attended the game after purchasing tickets.
“After this incident … why would you pay money and go down to see him again … at his workplace,” Martland asked.
“It was watching a professional hockey game,” MS said. “I’ve always wanted to go to a professional game.”
Virtanen will return to the stand on Friday.