DARTMOUTH, N.S. (CP) - A Nova Scotia man was acquitted of assaulting and threatening to kill his girlfriend Monday, in a case that involved testimony from beyond the grave.
Dean Kaizer, 40, was found not guilty of the crimes in Dartmouth provincial court by Judge Brian Gibson.
Donna Rae McLearn, Kaizer’s former girlfriend, was interviewed soon after the April 11, 2001 incident that led to the charges.
Her videotaped statement was used in the court case because she was found dead near her mobile home two months later.
Police have ruled out foul play in her death.
McLearn had testified the altercation began by her grabbing her boyfriend’s shirt and jacket, to keep him from leaving the mobile trailer they lived in.
McLearn said when it looked like Kaizer would hit her, she “smacked” him on the side of the face.
Defence lawyer Patrick Atherton said “Ms. McLearn was certainly prescribed mind-altering substances at the time,” referring to the medication she was taking for depression.
She asserted that he had bit her fingers, but the police officer interviewing her didn’t follow up on that, said Gibson.
“The videotaped statement is not helpful in that instance,” he said.
Kaizer had testified the argument came about because he wanted to leave McLearn.
Gibson said he found Kaizer’s explanation believable when he said the marks on McLearn had come as the couple wrestled and fell.
On the videotape, McLearn says that while she held Kaizer’s clothing, he raised his fist to her and said,
“I’m gonna hit you. I’ll hit you, I’ll knock you out, I’ll kill you.”
Gibson said the evidence didn’t suggest that McLearn took the threat to heart. When Kaizer got away and locked himself in the bedroom, she waited outside the door.
It was only when he got in a van to drive away that she called the police, and that was to report him because he had lost his licence after a drunk-driving conviction.
“I have doubt whether someone who was facing a threat to kill her would act in that manner, said Gibson.