“I thought saying no, I don’t want to do this and physically pushing him off me was enough,” she replied, her voice rising and full of emotion. “What else was there to say?” Virtanen, 25, faces one count of sexual assault related to an incident in his hotel room at the Westin Bayshore hotel in September 2017. He has pleaded not guilty. The name of the complainant, identified as MS, is protected by a publication ban. In earlier testimony, MS said she rebuffed Virtanen’s physical advances and told him multiple times that she did not want to have sex. She testified that he used his body weight to pin her to the bed before having non-consensual sex. MS was 18 at the time of the alleged assault, Virtanen 21. In another line of questioning, defense attorney Brock Martland questioned MS’s credibility and recall, asking about her statement that she and Virtanen had watched Netflix in the hotel room the night of the incident. “At the time the hotel did not have a Netflix app or a way to watch Netflix,” he told the court. The Vancouver Canucks have placed forward Jake Virtanen on leave after allegations surfaced against the 24-year-old forward. (Rich Lam/Getty Images) Martland also focused on MS’ description of being on the balcony when Virtanen first touched her from behind and began kissing her neck, noting that the room had no balcony, only a sliding glass door that opened onto a security grill . “This is what I consider a balcony,” said MS. Earlier, MS described feeling like a prostitute when Virtanen reneged on her promise to drive her back to her friend’s house, instead of giving her cash for a taxi. “He gave you more than enough money,” Martland said. “Yes,” said MS. “And that made you feel like a sex worker,” Martland asked. “Yes, because he just threw the money at me. I felt humiliated. He just threw the money at me and left,” she said. Asked about the civil suit that began in 2021, Martland asked MS about her financial situation and spending habits. MS testified that she was financially secure with her investments and savings and not a big spender. Martland then posted posts from her Twitter account where she talks about needing money and spending money, including a post that said “I burned through $15k.” “That was for school fees, rent, accommodation, food, all together,” MS replied. “It was an exaggeration for a joke.”

“It would be millions”

Martland asked MS directly if she was suing Virtanen for money. No, he replied, indicating that he had no idea what a successful civil suit could entail.
“It would be millions,” Martland said. “The amount of trauma and stress I’ve been through is not worth any amount of money,” MS replied. Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen sits in the penalty box at a game without fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2021. Virtanen is on trial for sexual assault. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press) The alleged assault first came to light in April 2021, when MS posted her account of the incident on the Survivors Stories Project Instagram account without naming herself or Virtanen. MS said the person behind the account referred her to Glacier Media reporter Alana Kelly, who in turn encouraged MS to go to the police and speak with Penticton attorney Michael Patterson. On May 1, 2021, Kelly and Glacier Media published an exclusive story naming Virtanen and mentioning MS, who was named “Emily” in the story. Virtanen was waived by the Vancouver Canucks on the same day. According to the agreed statement of facts, Patterson gave Kelly a draft notice of the civil claim, and the attorney and publicist shared what it should contain. Patterson also shared Virtanen’s response to the civil claim with Kelly, who posted stories about both. Martland suggested that MS use Kelly to bolster her story. “I don’t care about the profile, I never did. My main goal going forward was just to get my story out there,” MS said. The trial continues on Thursday. It is not known if Virtanen will take a position.