Yellowknife (May 16/03) - The prime minister's son walked out of the Yellowknife Courthouse a free man, Thursday.

After deliberating for five hours, the jury acquitted Michel Chretien, 34, of two counts of sexual assault and another sex-related charge.

Michel Chretien

Chretien showed no reaction when the verdict was read, while members of his accuser's family cried quietly and left the courthouse quickly.

A handful of reporters waited for Chretien and his lawyer John Bayly outside the court, but they refused to comment.

Chretien took the stand in his own defence, Wednesday.

Sitting with impeccable posture, Chretien denied sexually assaulting the 19-year-old woman last summer, or touching her in a sexual way when she was a child.

He admitted drinking and smoking marijuana with the woman at his apartment last July 15, but denied having sex with her.

"I believe I got tired and told her I was going to crash out in my room. She could feel more than welcome to stay over if she wished... I went to my room, closed the door and went to bed," Chretien said.

During cross-examination, he often asked Crown Prosecutor Bernadette Schmaltz to clarify her questions, or to be more specific before answering. During a break, he took a peek at a sketch artist's rendering of him.

Chretien acknowledged abusing alcohol, cocaine and heroin and said he bought alcohol for underage teenagers and let them drink with them at his place out of concern for them.

"...I was more at ease that they drank at my place instead of drinking around town," he said.

Chretien also testified he quit drinking soon after July 15 because he was jobless, broke and realized he was drinking too much again.

During closing summation, Schmaltz said Chretien's version of events sounded concocted.

Schmaltz said the alleged victim never wavered from the facts she remembered and was incapable of consenting to sex in her intoxicated state.

Bayly, Chretien's lawyer, attacked the woman's credibility and motivations. Her memory was clouded by alcohol and drugs, he said, and suggested her blackouts were selective.

He pointed to evidence that Chretien had fallen through on promises to help her financially and to evidence that she was jealous of another person, suggesting these were ulterior motivations for her accusations.