A self-represented former graduate student testified at Steven Galloway’s defamation trial that she believed his accuser in spring 2016.
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Glynnis Kirchmeier, a former graduate student representing herself, testified at the B.C. Supreme Court that she believed the woman known as A.B. after receiving a call from her in the spring of 2016.
Kirchmeier said the university had hired a retired judge, Mary Ellen Boyd, to review allegations against Galloway and that the judge concluded the assault claims were unsubstantiated.
She told the court that her later discussions with A.B. centred on their experiences with the University of British Columbia and its equity office. Kirchmeier said A.B. also told her she had felt coerced into a sexual relationship with Galloway and that she believed her.
Under cross-examination, Kirchmeier agreed she did not have a specific memory of A.B. using the word “rape,” saying, “It must have happened, but I don't remember it.”
Kirchmeier closed her case on Tuesday, and the trial is set to continue on Friday. Galloway’s lawyer, Daniel Coles, questioned Kirchmeier about an email she said she wrote calling Boyd a “shill,” and asking whether she meant Boyd was hired for a predetermined outcome.
The defamation trial concerns allegations that Kirchmeier and others published unproven claims about Galloway on social media and elsewhere. Galloway denies the assault allegations and says they ruined his career.
The court has heard that A.B. is no longer asserting in her defence that Galloway assaulted her, and that she reported he had done so. A.B. is not testifying, citing mental health struggles.
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