NNSL (DEC 27/96) - The shortest day of the year must have felt like the longest for a 36-year-old city man as he awaited the verdict of a Supreme Court jury, Saturday.

Six men and six women took two hours to find the man not guilty of sexually assaulting his common-law spouse four times between June 1, 1995 and May 11, 1996.

This is the man whose freedom from custody earlier this year caused a city woman to flee Yellowknife fearing for her life.

His mother and sister openly sobbed following the decision and, along with several other family members, joined him at the dock where they embraced before he was led away by police.

He remains in custody awaiting trial on property crime charges.

By all accounts, the five-day trial was unusual.

Justice John Vertes allowed testimony of the couple's entire four-year relationship to add context to the alleged sexual assaults.

Often sordid and sometimes conflicting details of the couple's homelife, worklife, sexlife, and lifestyle choices were all laid out for the jury, mostly through the testimony of the man and the complainant.

"But when all is said and done, this is what we call a credibility case," Vertes told the jury in an unusually long charge.

The jury charge, which took over an hour, includes instructions on how to decide which evidence is most important, and how to use the evidence to reach a verdict.

Earlier in the week the jury heard evidence from the man, his former common-law wife, a child, the man's sister, a school teacher, and a Manitoba-based psychiatrist who specializes in diagnosing battered women's syndrome.

Dr. Fred Shane told court that -- based on testimony, preliminary hearing evidence and personal interviews -- the complainant suffered from symptoms related to the syndrome.

"I think certainly she fits into many aspects (of the syndrome)," said Shane. "I would consider her an abused and battered woman."

Crown lawyer Alan Regel painted the man as an abusive, drunken man who was capable of violence and rape, through testimony from the complainant, a child and Shane.

However, defence lawyer James Brydon painted a much different picture of the man -- one of an alcoholic struggling with arthritis who was caught in a relationship with a woman who became so hateful and vengeful she wanted him dead.

"This isn't the first time we've seen this sort of mismatched love affair," said Brydon in his closing remarks to the jury.

Brydon, who aggressively cross-examined the complainant during the trial, apologized to the jury for "pushing" her.

"I am ashamed of what I did." he said, acknowledging that for him to do his job properly, he had no choice.

"This has not been an easy case for anyone to listen to .... This relationship started out with two people who were fond of each other and (over time) it's gone to pieces in a very tragic way."