Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 10/02) - A 26-year-old Rae-Edzo man with a string of violent convictions on his record is heading to jail for eight months.

Jason Vital's trial ended June 3 in Yellowknife territorial court as Judge Brian Bruser found him guilty of assault causing bodily harm.

Vital punched a man in the face on Dec. 11, breaking the victim's nose.

"Basically it was one punch to the nose, unprovoked, for no apparent reason," said Crown prosecutor Jonathan Burke.

The victim required surgery and missed a month of work as a result.

During the trial the Crown called two witnesses, the victim and another individual present at the time of the attack.

In Vital's defence, lawyer Hugh Latimer did not deny that his client had assaulted the victim.

Latimer argued the accused had reached such a state of intoxication that it was akin to a condition called automatism, meaning he was not in control of his actions and did not intend to punch the victim.

That argument was supported by the testimony of Yellowknife psychiatrist Dr. Robert Clemmey.

However, Bruser did not believe the testimony of the accused and Dr. Clemmey's testimony was then deemed irrelevant, according to Burke.

Previous record

Vital's criminal record includes assault, assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon and failing to obey probation order convictions.

Bruser denied Latimer's request for rehabilitation and a non-custodial sentence.

He said neither probation, counselling nor imprisonment has deterred Vital from re-offending.

"This offender ... has little insight into what the depths of his problems actually are," said Bruser.

Besides an eight-month prison sentence, Vital has been ordered to submit a DNA sample to the RCMP and a five-year firearms prohibition has been issued.