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Court briefs
Assault with watch charge dismissed


Daniel Campbell
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, September 25, 2013

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 33-year-old man charged with assault with a weapon for throwing his steel watch at his ex-girlfriend faced down a Yellowknife judge on Monday.

The woman was left with a deep gash in the back of her skull.

The two testified they'd gotten into an argument in their apartment late at night on Feb. 2. The woman asked the man to leave. As the man was putting his shoes on to leave, he took off his watch - a gift from his girlfriend - and threw it.

The man testified it might have bounced off a wall and hit the woman. He said he never intended to use the watch as a weapon, nor did he mean to hit the woman.

Judge Christine Gagnon agreed, saying there's not enough evidence to conclude he meant to hurt her. She dismissed the charges on Monday, saying she'd be unable to convict the man of assault with a weapon.

Slow down

A 17-year-old youth heard stern words from Chief Judge Robert Gorin in territorial court on Monday after he was caught speeding down Deh Cho Boulevard this summer.

The youth was clocked at 130 km/h, more than twice the posted limit of 60 km/h, on July 23.

He had also forgotten to bring his driver's licence with him. Gorin fined the youth $400 for speeding and $25 for not having his licence.

Gorin warned the youth he'd better not appear before him again, or the consequences would be much stiffer.

DNA tests bog down sexual assault cases

Two sexual assault cases in Youth Criminal Justice Court have been bogged down while Crown prosecution awaits DNA evidence.

One of the youths is already in custody. Both are awaiting the DNA evidence so they can make a plea.

Crown prosecutor Marc Lecorre said he'd have to wait at least three months to get the DNA results back from the RCMP.

Chief Judge Robert Gorin reluctantly adjourned the youth's pleas until Dec. 2, noting these cases should have greater priority because they involve young persons.

Yellowknife RCMP say wait times vary for DNA results, depending on scheduling of court proceedings, the precedence of cases and the number and type of exhibits sent for testing. Labs can also be bogged down with a large number of cases at any given time.

There are no DNA testing facilities in Yellowknife, so police need to send evidence to a variety of labs outside the territory - some are government-owned and other are privately-contracted facilities.

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