A Halifax man’s fourth trial on rape allegations will take place 15 months from now.
Matthew Albert Percy, 35, appeared in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax on Thursday by video from jail to set dates for a trial on charges of sexual assault causing bodily harm, choking and assault.
The charges were laid this summer after police received a complaint that a woman had been sexually assaulted by someone she knew at her Halifax apartment in November 2013.
Justice Christa Brothers booked the judge-alone trial for March 17-27, 2020.
Last week, Percy was found guilty of sexual assault and voyeurism following a trial in Halifax provincial court. The victim in that incident, which happened Sept. 15, 2017, was a student at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, where Percy worked as a groundskeeper.
Percy used his iPhone to record video of portions of the encounter with the woman, who was heavily intoxicated after a night out with friends downtown and does not recall consenting to sex.
One of the videos shows Percy having intercourse with the woman while she is unresponsive. Her eyes are closed and her head is turned to the side, with her arms hanging motionless.
The woman makes no sounds for more than two minutes. After Percy sets the phone down on the bed, she can be heard moaning. He asks her several times if she’s OK or if she wants him to stop, and she gives an inaudible, one-word reply.
“For approximately 90 seconds to two minutes, (the woman) was unconscious while Mr. Percy had intercourse with her,” Judge Elizabeth Buckle said in her decision.
“The law is absolutely clear that an unconscious person cannot consent to sexual activity.
“During that time, Mr. Percy knew she was unconscious. As such, he knew she was not consenting or lacked the capacity to consent and took no steps during that time to ensure she was consenting.”
The judge also found that the videos were secretly recorded without the woman’s knowledge and consent.
Percy, who has been in custody since December 2017, will be sentenced in February after the court receives a presentence report.
Percy was acquitted in provincial court in August on charges of sexual assault, choking and voyeurism, from an incident with a different SMU student at his apartment Sept. 3, 2017. The Crown filed a notice of appeal in September, claiming the judge erred in ruling that the prosecution failed to prove the woman had not consented to sex.
He has another trial set for Supreme Court in February 2020 on a charge of sexual assault causing bodily harm, from an incident with a young woman at a Dalhousie University residence in December 2014.
