Kelowna sexual assault retrial: accused cross-examined over memory and statements

Brandon Hildebrand Acosta was cross-examined on Monday in Kelowna Supreme Court in the retrial of a sexual assault case dating to November 20, 2021. The first trial in 2024 ended in a mistrial. Justice Richard Hewson is presiding over the proceedings.

Crown counsel Catherine Rezansoff questioned the accused about his statements to RCMP following his arrest and about his testimony from the first trial. She focused on whether his memory of the events was reliable.

“I don’t remember anything happening.”

According to a transcript of his conversation with a constable at the Kelowna RCMP detachment, Hildebrand Acosta initially said he did not remember anything happening. He later told the officer that he and the complainant had cuddled.

The court also heard a statement in which he said that if he had attempted to do something, he did not remember. When Crown suggested he had admitted something could have occurred between himself and the complainant, he said the remark was taken out of context.

Hildebrand Acosta had claimed to be in a borderline blackout from drugs and alcohol consumed that night, saying the complainant was probably more aware of the events. He testified on Monday that both he and the complainant were coherent.

Rezansoff reviewed the transcript from the first trial and pointed out inconsistencies with his current testimony. The first inconsistency raised by the Crown concerned the accused’s use of drugs. The hearing continued on Monday.