David Pickton's sexual assault victim denied trial costs
David Pickton will not be ordered to pay his sexual assault victim's trial costs, a B.C. Supreme Court Justice ruled Friday.
"Mr. Pickton is pleased that the court recognized that [the victim]... could have avoided the trial and the judicial resources it consumed," said Pickton's lawyer Andrew Morrison.
The woman asked for $1-million in damages, but ended up getting $45.000.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice George Macintosh says she should have accepted Pickton's initial offer of $50,000 to settle before the civil trial began in June of 2015.
"[My client] is disappointed with that outcome, and she'll be considering her next steps," said her lawyer,Jason Gratl.
Assault on "modest" end
Years ago a jury determined that the sexual assault was on the "modest" end of the spectrum, the judge said.
At trial, the woman accused Pickton of threatening to rape her, but Pickton testified he only slapped her buttocks.
The judge determined in court Thursday that Pickton either "slapped her on the ass" or grabbed the woman's genitals through her jeans.
"He's rough and he's tough and he certainly behaves in ways that probably most of us are not enamoured of," Macintosh said.
The brother of serial killer Robert "Willy" Pickton was convicted in 1992 of the attack in a construction site trailer in Burnaby. At the time he was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
