It all started with an innocent car ride after a wild night on the town. Man #1 offered to drive Man #2 home, and the next thing Man #2 knew… His erect penis was in the mouth of Man #1! …For five minutes! And the whole thing was, of course, completely non-consensual.
The sexual offense took place in Christchurch, New Zealand in the wee hours of May 19, 2012 and the identities of the two men have not yet been made public. During the two-day trial earlier this week, Man #2, who identifies as heterosexual, told the jury he woke up after passing out in the back seat of the car to find Man #1 performing unwanted fellatio on him, Christchurch Court News reports.
Man #1 denied charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, claiming Man #2 had requested oral sex, but suddenly changed his mind five minutes into it.
But Man #2 insisted he is not gay. To prove this, he brought his girlfriend to court with him, who sat quietly in the back of the room while he gave testimony.
The jury heard evidence that Man #2 had a history of experiencing memory blackouts when he drank heavily. On the night of the offense, he had consumed 12 to 14 alcoholic beverages on a party bus between the hours of 5 p.m. and midnight. He then met Man #1, who offered to give him a ride home after he was denied entry into a casino.
During his testimony, Man #2 claimed that in addition to not remembering giving consent for the blowjob, he also had no recollection of sending two text messages that appeared on his phone around the time of the “unwanted” sex act, as well as no memory of smoking pot which showed up in his system in toxicology tests taken the next day.
Tony Greig, the lawyer representing Man #1, told the jury that alcohol often makes people do things they later regret, like making “tactless” comments… or accepting BJs from a strangers in the backseats of cars.
Expert witness Dr. Erik Monasterio said it appeared to him that Man #2 had experienced “alcohol-induced amnesia.” He testified that in his professional estimation, Man #2 could have asked for oral sex during a memory blackout, fallen asleep while it was happening, and then woken up five minutes later with no memory of making the request.
The jury deliberated for 45 minutes. They ruled that Man #2, indeed, could have given consent for the blowjob while suffering a drunken blackout, thus letting Man #1 off the hook.
Upon hearing the not guilty verdict, Man #1 offered the jury a polite “Thank you.”
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