A series of small-time criminal activities were dealt with in Estevan provincial court on April 1.
Among them was a trial was held for Justin Garrow, and it would seem a poor attempt at an April Fool's Day joke. Garrow was charged with assault with a weapon and had been sitting in custody on remand for about three weeks while he awaited the trial.
Once things got underway and the one and only witness took the stand, it quickly became clear there were little grounds to convict the Estevan man of the otherwise serious charge.
The female victim testified that on March 7, there was an argument between herself and the accused. She began yelling at Garrow and throwing whatever objects within her reach at him. One of those items, an aluminum can, was swatted away defensively by Garrow. It came back, making contact with the victim. He left, and the victim said she then called the police because she was "crazy."
She told the court, "I was mad at him and wanted to get him in trouble." That was the Crown's case.
Greg Wilson, Garrow's Legal Aid lawyer, called on Judge James Benison to give a directed verdict, suggesting there is no evidence to suggest an assault took place. Benison disagreed, but after little more testimony and the closing of the Crown's case, Wilson argued no condemning evidence was put forward implicating his client who sat in the prisoner's box during the proceedings.
This Benison agreed with, and found Garrow not guilty, noting it was the victim who threw the item in question that led to the charge.
In other proceedings, Terry Shaw pleaded guilty to his fourth impaired driving charge. Luckily for him, it was his first conviction in 23 years and the Crown did not ask for jail time, instead calling for a three-year driving prohibition. Benison noted that if it were 20 years ago, Shaw would be heading to jail and ordered a two-year driving prohibition and $2,000 fine.
