Yellowknife (Sep 04/06) - A 35-year-old former Iqaluit man found not guilty of break and enter and sexual assault spent a year in jail awaiting his trial.

Now jobless and forced to live with his sister in Yellowknife, Gusta Kootoo said he is left putting the pieces of his life back together. Kootoo was accused of breaking into a woman's apartment and sexually assaulting her last October.

Tried in NWT Supreme Court, a 12-person jury found him not guilty of both charges Aug. 24, deliberating for around five hours.

Following his acquittal, Kootoo said it feels good to be out of jail.

In the first few moments of freedom, the only thing on his mind was calling his girlfriend who lives in Fort Providence.

"Like I said at the beginning," said Kootoo. "I was innocent, that's why I picked a judge and jury trial."

His brother-in-law, Matthew Spence, said Kootoo was treated unfairly at the repeated bail hearings where his freedom was denied.

"It was for stupid reasons," said Spence.

Spence said Kootoo was denied bail once because his file was misread. Another time, he was returned to custody because the court thought he would be living and working in the same building as the key witness in the trial.

Lydia Bardak of the John Howard Society, a social justice group, said she remembers Kootoo's last bail hearing. He was returned to jail because he didn't have a place to stay.

Bardak said she also remembers the judge saying a year is not an unreasonable time to wait in custody. "It's great if you're guilty, because you get double time," said Bardak. Usually, time spent in custody before a trial or court date is doubled and serves as credit during sentencing.

Spence said Kootoo is looking into whether he can sue for damages.

Kootoo moved to Yellowknife to build a house and found a job working for a property management company.