Guilty of violent assault
Posted: Dec 14th, 2012, 8:26 am
Guilty of violent assault
by Deborah Pfeiffer - Story: 84541
Dec 14, 2012 / 5:00 am
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer
Brian Douglas Louie enters Penticton CourthouseWarning graphic testimony.
An Oliver man accused of a violent assault earlier this year at a house on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve was found guilty in a Penticton courtroom on Thursday.
Judge Meg Shaw handed down the decision on the final day of the trial for Brian Douglas Louie, 34. Louie faced charges of aggravated sexual assault and assault causing bodily harm stemming from an incident in May.
"This assault can only be described as an incredible betrayal, an act of power, aggression and control that must be condemned in the strongest terms,” said Shaw. "In summary I find the accused guilty on both counts."
In stating why she reached her verdict, Shaw said the crown had proved each offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The accused wounded, disfigured and maimed the complainant, and his evidence also differed from the victim, was inconsistent and predominately had no air of reality, she said.
Outside the courtroom, the victim, who cannot be identified because of a publication ban, said she was happy with the judge’s decision and that she hopes the accused gets a lot of extensive help because he needs it.
She is still dealing with the assault, but is taking it day by day with the help of friends, she said.
As for his repeated statements that the sexual assault was accidental, she claimed that was untrue.
“He needs to acknowledge his actions and start working toward getting on track,” she said. “I am still concerned about my safety. He is going back to jail and will get angry."
When Louie took the witness stand in the morning, he told the judge he was not the Hannibal Lecter, zombie or villain everyone was making him out to be, and that the biting of the woman's private parts was an accident.
The fight between him and the woman came at the end of a 72-hour period in which he had stayed up for two nights drinking alcohol and doing cocaine.
On the night in question, the woman called him and asked if he wanted to go out for drinks.
He decided to go to a party on the reserve with her, where he said he drank beer and Jello shots.
He remembered leaving the party, driving around and getting cocaine to keep him awake.
The two returned to the location of the party, where they engaged in a sexual act, with the woman asking him to go down on her.
After an interruption by another man, the pair continued, and it was then Louie said he noticed something in his mouth and spat it out.
He freaked out and told her it was an accident, he said.
She was also freaking out and hit him a couple of times and he went into defence mode and hit back.
He denied kicking her or dragging her downstairs and recalled the hostess of the party coming out saying "you better leave, I will call the cops."
"I remember thinking what the f… is happening," he said.
He walked to a friend's home and talked about the fight before jumping out a window at the home. He made his way home and woke up to his mother saying he had been in a fight and that he bit off part of the woman's private parts.
During cross examination, crown counsel Vernon Frolick asked Louie to again explain his actions that night and discussed his lengthy criminal record.
Earlier witnesses in the trial, including the victim and her friends, described the violent fight, the obvious pain the victim was in following the incident and blood everywhere.
The doctor who attended to the woman at Penticton Regional Hospital said the woman had a complex laceration, as well as bruising and swelling on her face.
Sentencing will take place once a psychiatric assessment and pre-sentence report are completed, said the judge.
by Deborah Pfeiffer - Story: 84541
Dec 14, 2012 / 5:00 am
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer
Brian Douglas Louie enters Penticton CourthouseWarning graphic testimony.
An Oliver man accused of a violent assault earlier this year at a house on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve was found guilty in a Penticton courtroom on Thursday.
Judge Meg Shaw handed down the decision on the final day of the trial for Brian Douglas Louie, 34. Louie faced charges of aggravated sexual assault and assault causing bodily harm stemming from an incident in May.
"This assault can only be described as an incredible betrayal, an act of power, aggression and control that must be condemned in the strongest terms,” said Shaw. "In summary I find the accused guilty on both counts."
In stating why she reached her verdict, Shaw said the crown had proved each offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The accused wounded, disfigured and maimed the complainant, and his evidence also differed from the victim, was inconsistent and predominately had no air of reality, she said.
Outside the courtroom, the victim, who cannot be identified because of a publication ban, said she was happy with the judge’s decision and that she hopes the accused gets a lot of extensive help because he needs it.
She is still dealing with the assault, but is taking it day by day with the help of friends, she said.
As for his repeated statements that the sexual assault was accidental, she claimed that was untrue.
“He needs to acknowledge his actions and start working toward getting on track,” she said. “I am still concerned about my safety. He is going back to jail and will get angry."
When Louie took the witness stand in the morning, he told the judge he was not the Hannibal Lecter, zombie or villain everyone was making him out to be, and that the biting of the woman's private parts was an accident.
The fight between him and the woman came at the end of a 72-hour period in which he had stayed up for two nights drinking alcohol and doing cocaine.
On the night in question, the woman called him and asked if he wanted to go out for drinks.
He decided to go to a party on the reserve with her, where he said he drank beer and Jello shots.
He remembered leaving the party, driving around and getting cocaine to keep him awake.
The two returned to the location of the party, where they engaged in a sexual act, with the woman asking him to go down on her.
After an interruption by another man, the pair continued, and it was then Louie said he noticed something in his mouth and spat it out.
He freaked out and told her it was an accident, he said.
She was also freaking out and hit him a couple of times and he went into defence mode and hit back.
He denied kicking her or dragging her downstairs and recalled the hostess of the party coming out saying "you better leave, I will call the cops."
"I remember thinking what the f… is happening," he said.
He walked to a friend's home and talked about the fight before jumping out a window at the home. He made his way home and woke up to his mother saying he had been in a fight and that he bit off part of the woman's private parts.
During cross examination, crown counsel Vernon Frolick asked Louie to again explain his actions that night and discussed his lengthy criminal record.
Earlier witnesses in the trial, including the victim and her friends, described the violent fight, the obvious pain the victim was in following the incident and blood everywhere.
The doctor who attended to the woman at Penticton Regional Hospital said the woman had a complex laceration, as well as bruising and swelling on her face.
Sentencing will take place once a psychiatric assessment and pre-sentence report are completed, said the judge.
