Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, September 26, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - A 25-year-old Yellowknife man was found guilty of sexual assault yesterday, bringing to close a case in which charges were delayed for five years.

"It's been six years," the victim told Yellowknifer after hearing the guilty verdict from Justice Ted Richard. "I have justice for once in my life."

The 23-year-old woman, 17 at the time, had only lived in Yellowknife briefly when John Koyczan sexually assaulted her on Aug. 28, 2001, but it was long enough to get her caught up in an ordeal that lasted much longer than some feel it should have.

Evidence collected in the case, specifically DNA samples from the victim the day after the incident happened, was not sent for forensic analysis until September 2005. Police blamed the delay on "high caseloads."

Koyczan was charged with the assault in May of 2006.

Earlier this summer, Koyczan's defence had tried to claim prejudicial arrest in the case due to the length of time the evidence was not dealt with. Justice Ted Richard, however, accepted the RCMP's assertion that "high caseloads" caused the lengthy delay.

In yesterday's trial, Koyczan's lawyer, Hugh Latimer, provided a bit of a "surprise submission," according to Richard.

Latimer argued that forensic investigators testing Koyczan's DNA failed to compare it to a sample group of people for a frequency comparison, as in 'a one in a million.' Koyczan's DNA matched with the sexual assault kit obtained from the victim's panties but was never compared to a sample group - a standard police procedure, according to Latimer.

He also made reference to the victim's testimony, saying that she "did not implicate anyone in the crime."

He referred to the fact that the victim could not remember the actual incident, and therefore who it was exactly who assaulted her, due to the fact that she was unconscious at the time.

With the DNA evidence, however, Justice Richard was satisfied that the crown had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Koyczan had been the one who had sexually assaulted the girl and was not convinced by Latimer's arguments.

"It is disingenuous for the accused to now say a match does not mean there was a match," Richard said in regards to the defence.

Koyczan is to appear in Territorial Supreme Court this morning for sentencing. He faces a maximum of 10-years in prison.