Peter Nygard's defence lawyer tries to poke holes in sex assault allegations

Peter Nygard's defence lawyer attempted on Wednesday to poke holes in the testimony of one of the five women the Canadian fashion mogul is accused of sexually assaulting, suggesting that some of what she has told court was "preposterous" or simply not true.

During cross-examination, which included several testy exchanges, Brian Greenspan attempted to show contradictions with past statements the woman, the first of the five to testify, had given to police and lawyers about her interactions with Nygard.

He also zeroed in on the night that Nygard is alleged to have attacked her, which she claims happened at his private bedroom suite at his Toronto headquarters hours after a Rolling Stones concert on Dec. 3, 1989.

This included Greenspan challenging the woman about her testimony regarding the time and length of the concert, whether Chinese restaurants were closed afterward, the weather that night and the vehicle Nygard was going to use to drive her home.

Nygard, 82, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement in alleged incidents involving five women, dating from the late 1980s to 2005.

In opening arguments made last week, the Crown told jurors that Nygard, the founder of a now-defunct international clothing company, used his power and status to lure and sexually assault the women — aged 16 to 28 at the time — in that bedroom suite.

Invited to concert

The woman, now 62, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, told the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Tuesday that on the night of the alleged assault, she was invited to meet Nygard at the Toronto SkyDome, now called Rogers Centre, for the concert.

She said she met him there and that he was joined by two or three other women, including his assistant.

Greenspan cited the statement she gave to police in 1998. In it, he said, the woman told officers that the Stones came on around 8 p.m. or 9 p.m., played about two hours and ended late.

But Greenspan produced a photocopy of a ticket stub that showed the concert started at 6 p.m., and read a review of the concert from that time. Greenspan suggested it ended no later than 9:30 p.m.

This led Greenspan to question the woman's earlier testimony that after the concert, she, Nygard and the women he was with had piled into a minivan, driven up Spadina Avenue looking to dine at a Chinese food place but that they were all closed.

Greenspan, raising his voice, said that the suggestion that they couldn't find a Chinese restaurant open on Spadina Avenue — the heart of Chinatown — at 9:30 p.m. was "preposterous."

The woman countered: "On a Sunday night," to which Greenspan responded: "On any night. It's just not true."

Greenspan also questioned her testimony that Nygard had offered to give her a ride home later that evening in his Mercedes.

The woman had testified it was cold that evening, but Greenspan pointed out that it was particularly cold, – 20 C, and that it had been snowing. 

"If it was snowing I suggest to you Mr. Nygard never would have suggested driving you home in a two-seater Mercedes," Greenspan said.

The woman laughed at the suggestion, and said that at the time, around 11 p.m., it was mostly clear.

Greenspan, citing weather records, said that it was just snowing an hour earlier and that it had been snowing for several hours. 

The woman had also testified that they went into underground parking at 1 Niagara St., Nygard's headquarters.

But Greespan countered that that garage is at ground level."

"There is no underground, there is no ramp down," he said. "I suggest to you, you don't know that because you were never in it."

Greenspan added that she had told police she waited outside the garage while Nygard got his car.

"I was in the garage or the entrance of the garage," she responded. 

Why she waited to report

Earlier in the day, the woman had testified why she had waited nine years to report the alleged sexual assault to Toronto police. 

She said she had been at a downtown Toronto bar with a friend when she noticed an article about Nygard in the satirical magazine Frank.

That prompted her to tell her friend about the alleged attack, she said. She said he then convinced her to go to the police. 

But she said that four or five days after she had given her statement to police, she decided not to go forward because, she said, she was told by another member of the Toronto police force that Nygard's head of security had flown in to find out who spoke to police.

"I panicked, I was afraid for my life," she told jurors.

She said that while on a yoga retreat in Bali, Indonesia, in 2020, she read in The New York Times about a U.S. class-action lawsuit against Nygard, and decided to contact the lawyers in that case and pursue charges in Toronto. She also said she joined the U.S. lawsuit.

"Following the #MeToo movement, things have changed in society, and I think that that type of behaviour … it's time for it to stop," she said in court.

But Greenspan questioned the complainant on her motives for coming forward, suggesting she did so to potentially get "significant compensation," an accusation the woman rejected.

Greenspan also pressed her on her source for the information that Nygard's head of security had flown to Toronto to find his accuser. 

"So you were running on hearsay and rumours, unsupported and unsubstantiated, isn't that correct?" Greenspan asked loudly. "I suggest to you that all of what you just said is an outright lie … that none of it is true."

The woman wiped away tears following the heated exchange.

Greenspan's cross-examination of the woman continues on Thursday.