COURT REPORT: Judge set to deliver verdict in Rosetown man’s Christmas Eve confrontation
EAGLE STAFF
A judge is to give his verdict today (Tuesday) in Kindersley in a trial involving Derek Skene, 49, of Rosetown.
Police charged Skene with assault causing bodily harm after learning about an altercation in a local back alley on Dec. 24. A man reported later that he’d suffered a small puncture wound to his chest after Skene fell into him. A security-camera video, taken from near Skene’s back door, showed the accused holding onto a dog jumping around on a leash before falling into the man.
Judge Bruce Bauer, slated to preside at Kindersley provincial court on Tuesday, saw six photos of the damage to the victim and his clothing during the Sept, 25 provincial court trial at the Elks hall. The exhibits included a photo of a hole in a T-shirt the victim said he’d received that evening for Christmas. Skene didn’t testify.
The man hadn’t noticed the wound until later, he testified. He’d been at a family gathering, where he drank one beer, and was returning home in the back seat of a vehicle, he testified.
Skene almost stepped into the path of the vehicle and began yelling at it, the video appears to show. Moments later, the video showed three people walking toward him. The victim was challenging Skene to fight while they traded insults, the victim testified.
The incident happens soon after, then the accused runs between the people back to his residence, where the victim remained outside yelling at him. The accused was yelling from the door, the victim said. This lasted for 20 to 30 minutes as he waited for a police officer to arrive, he testified.
However, a serious accident west of town kept available officers busy, he said. Police later called and told him to go home. The victim went to the police station the next day to make a statement, where some of the photos were taken, court heard.
“There was no question that bodily harm occurred,” Judge Bauer said during the defence lawyer’s argument. The lawyer argued that the contact was unintentional and that the contact “looks like a stumble and push.”
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Judge Bauer fined Martha Gatfield, 60, of Medicine Hat a total of $1,299 for doing 159 km/h ($899) in an unregistered vehicle ($400 instead of $580) on June 14 near Harris.
The woman said she didn’t realize how fast she was going on her way to a celebration of life for a friend of her family, asking for a reduction in the speeding fine.
Judge Bauer refused, telling the woman she posed a “significant danger” to herself and others on the road and that people going that fast can face a criminal charge of dangerous driving.
Gatfield also said that her ex-husband had always handled vehicle registration, that she assumed it expired at the end of the year and “was surprised” when she learned it had expired at the end of April.
Judge Bauer fined Hedye Hajforoush, 50, of Biggar $500 instead of $843 after listening to her explanation for going 154 km/h on Highway 4 north of Rosetown on April 24.
The judge fined Dibin Baby, 27, of Prince Albert $304 for after the man said he was going closer to 134 km/h than the 154 km/h that police clocked him at near Rosetown on July 11.
Judge Bauer fined Boran Son, 47, of Winnipeg a total of $300 - $150 on each charge - when the man pleaded guilty to speeding and driving with a passenger under 16 years old not wearing a seatbelt. The accused said the boy didn’t want to wear the seatbelt. The voluntary fines were $280 for speeding and $175 for the seatbelt violation.
The judge fined Jason R. Mitchell, 48, of Cranbrook, B.C., $300 instead of $580 for driving an unregistered vehicle here on July 14. Mitchell said that Alberta didn’t send him a warning that the registration was about to expire.
Judge Bauer fined Cody D. Smith of Onion Lake $200 for driving near Harris on July 13 when his licence was suspended.
The judge fined Noel Isorena, 44, of Saskatoon $184 for going 117 km/h near Rosetown on March 8 in issuing a default conviction when the man didn’t show up for his scheduled trial.
The judge fined Ashrap Snaa, 27, of Saskatoon $150 instead of $194 for going 122 km/h near Zealandia on June 14.
Judge Bauer fined Satman Singh, 31, of Airdrie, Alta., $150 in agreeing to a resolution worked out by a prosecutor that gave the accused an official speed of 109 km/h. Police clocked the man’s vehicle going 130 km/h, for which the voluntary fine was $210, on May 17.
The judge fined Renee L. Tetrault, 60, of Vernon, B.C., $150 with an official speed of 115 km/h in agreeing to a resolution worked out by a prosecutor. Tetrault’s vehicle registered 132 km/h on police radar near Tessier on July 29. The voluntary fine was $288.
The judge fined Carman V. Wilcox, 57, of Stalwart, Sask., $150 instead of $206 for going 108 km/h in an 80-km zone here on June 14.
Judge Bauer fined Jocelyn H. Sabit, of Kylemore $150 when the woman pleaded guilty to driving near Fiske on July 13 when her licence was suspended. The woman said the suspension notification went to her former address and that she’d paid the outstanding amount the next business day.