A day after a judge dismissed four sexual assault charges against a Port Alberni man, Colby James Messer plans to head home and back to his everyday life, his lawyer says.
On Monday, Denver District Attorney Lynn Kimbrough declared four charges against Messer would be dropped after "new information developed in this case that led to a determination that those charges could no longer be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."
Messer was accused in the alleged sexual assault of a 27-year-old American woman at a Denver hotel room in November 2015.
In a sworn affidavit the woman said she didn’t remember getting to the hotel, but did recall being sexually assaulted in the room.
Messer was arrested in March when he returned to the United States.
“The only crime my client had committed was he went out drinking with his friends and he passed out,” Messer’s lawyer, Kenneth Eichner, told CTV News. “There was no DNA on her or on any object. He had nothing to do with this.”
According to the lawyer, their investigation revealed the accused had mislead the police in a number of areas.
“Within an hour of leaving the hotel there’s closed circuit TV footage of her on the phone and she was calling someone she had met on a social dating site and then mislead the police about it and that was really huge,” Eichner said.
Messer pleaded not guilty in August and was under strict conditions not to leave the U.S.
“He had a GPS device attached to him, he was literally on house arrest,” Eichner noted.
Messer was originally charged with six counts of sexual assault, two of which were thrown out after a preliminary hearing.
Messer’s lawyer said the experience has been “absolutely traumatic” on the 30-year-old.
“To be falsely accused and wrongfully vilified like this is extremely difficult,” said Eichner.
According to the lawyer, Messer’s passport has been returned to him and he plans to return to Victoria in the near future.
“He’s going to head back to Canada and go back to work and live his life,” Eichner stated.
