The Queen v. O.(A.) 2019

The client was charged with sexual assault on the basis of a complaint made by a young woman he had attended a Superbowl party with.  The complainant and the client had been “best friends” for years prior to this and had even tried dating in the past.  While the complainant told police that she awoke to the client having sex with her without her consent, the client maintained that after the complainant took him by the hand to her bedroom after the football game was over, they began kissing and ended up having consensual sexual intercourse.  Mr .van der Walle was brought onto the case just before trial to act as the lead trial counsel alongside the client’s original lawyer.  After a hard fought 4 day trial at the beautiful Vancouver courthouse, the trial judge went the extra mile and ruled that not only was he left with a reasonable doubt, he in fact believed the client when he testified he was innocent.  Not guilty.