Regina vs Brian Douglas Louie based on a May incident on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve – trial before Judge Meg Shaw began yesterday with the number of charges reduced to two: Count 1: A charge of aggravated sexual assault and Count 2. assault causing bodily harm in connection with an incident in the early morning hours Sunday May 20 2012 following a drinking party at a home on Sage Road east of the Town of Oliver.

The first day – the trial centred on a 911 call at about 7am Sunday May 20. That vivid and emotional rendering by the witness who called authorities was referred to by the Crown Prosecutor as a “story in itself”.

Today saw the victim, a 29 year old, explain the circumstances of how the incident happened and the context. In a highly emotional rendering the victim said that an uneventful party at a friends had changed at one point in the morning to a nightmare.

She explained to the court that she first attended a party with a girlfriend but later arranged for the accused to visit the home on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve and that ended with loving making around dawn on an early summer morning.

At one point the victim said she was bitten and began to bleed. When her cries for help awoke other people in the house a beating ensued. The victim told Judge Meg Shaw that “nothing like this had ever happened to her before in her life” and that she “didn’t feel normal anymore” because of the injuries. The victim said she did not fight back but tried to protect her head from injury. She told the court she was kicked, punched and dragged down a stairway to the front door.

More crown witnesses including RCMP officers will testify Thursday and then the defense will have an opportunity to present its case under the direction of lawyer Jim Pennington.