Rape trial delayed until Apr

Photo: Nicholas Johansen

Jeremy Czechowski

A verdict in the Jeremy Czechowski rape trial won't be coming until well into the spring.

The trial for Czechowski, who's facing charges of sexual assault, unlawful confinement, attempting to choke, and uttering threats stemming from a Feb. 21, 2016 incident, began on Feb. 13, 2018.

Through six days of trial, the court heard testimony from the victim, the victim's friend, a doctor who examined the victim after the incident and several police officers, along with Czechowski himself and several of his friends who were present on the night of the alleged rape.

The victim, who can't be named due to a publication ban, says Czechowski violently raped her for hours when she and her friend went to a house he was at after they had left Sapphire nightclub in the early morning hours. 

Czechowski says he and the alleged victim engaged in consensual sex several times that morning, but she “went crazy” when her boyfriend called her phone and Czechowski answered.

Czechowski is no stranger to the court system, with convictions throughout the Interior of British Columbia.

He spent six months in jail for a 2007 mischief under $5,000 conviction in Salmo, and was handed another six months for a 2008 theft charge in Fruitvale.

Previously, he was convicted of theft over $5,000 for a 2003 incident in Castlegar, resulting in three months in jail, along with a separate conviction of possession of property obtained by theft that same year in Montrose, resulting in a four-month conditional sentence.

The trial will resume on April 26, when defence will finish its evidence submission, followed by Justice Kenneth Ball's verdict.