Two men charged with aggravated assault and break-and-enter after a grisly 2022 machete attack at a Prince George motel were acquitted Monday, March 3 in BC Supreme Court.
In his oral verdict, Justice John Gibb-Carsley ruled the Crown did not prove its case against Dakota Rayn Keewatin, 31, and Kerridge Andrew Lowley, 49, beyond reasonable doubt.
They had been accused of committing the crimes at unit 255 of the Econo Lodge City Centre Inn on Aug. 11, 2022.
The Crown alleged the incident began with an exchange about a drug debt outside a Tim Hortons between Arlen Chalifoux and Keewatin. Keewatin, in the passenger seat of a pickup truck driven by Lowley, asked when his money would be repaid. Chalifoux said if he wanted the money, he should come and get it. Chalifoux hurried back to his room 255, followed by Keewatin.
Keewatin knocked repeatedly. When Chalifoux opened the door, he sprayed Keewatin directly in the face with bear spray from his left hand and struck him with the machete held in his right hand.
Keewatin reacted in self-defence, barging into the room, disarming Chalifoux and striking him repeatedly with the machete. Chalifoux, whose right arm was almost severed, also suffered serious gashes to his right hand and knee.
Gibb-Carsley said it was “not unreasonable for Keewatin to defend himself by going on the offensive and attempting to neutralize what was a hostile threat to him.”
Keewatin had limited means to retreat or escape on the unfamiliar, narrow outdoor hallway, one storey above the parking lot. While he could have retreated by running away, Gibb-Carsley said Keewatin could not have taken cover quickly and would have been left exposed and vulnerable.
“It is, again, necessary to note that the entire interaction took place in 26 seconds. Keewatin had little time to consider his options,” he said. “In considering the reasonableness of the defendant’s use of defensive force, the court must be alive to the fact that people in stressful and dangerous situations do not have time for subtle reflection.“
The location was unfamiliar and so were the weapons. Keewatin did not know whether the machete blade was sharp, dull or in a sheath. So he would not know the severity of the damage he was inflicting upon Chalifoux.
“In my view, the circumstances may be different had Mr. Keewatin inflicted injury upon the complainant with a weapon that he brought to the hotel room or a specific weapon with which he had familiarity,” Gibb-Carsley said.
Gibb-Carsley said Chalifoux’s testimony evolved over time and shifted as questions developed, but found him generally straightforward. He did have some difficulty due to “either the trauma and chaotic nature of the events in unit 255 or the passage of time.”
Gibb-Carsley had reasonable doubt whether Lowley held a knife or another bladed object when he entered the unit for all of eight seconds. He also doubted whether and how Lowley participated in the assault. The Crown, he said, was not able to provide any corroborating evidence to support its allegation that Lowley stabbed Chalifoux.
“I am concerned that it would be unsafe to accept only the evidence of the complainant as supported by a wound, to which no definitive cause or mechanism of injury was provided, to support the Crown’s theory of Mr. Lowley's guilt.”
Gibb-Carsley paused to note the substantial and graphic evidence of the severity of Chalifoux’s injuries at the trial. He also noted that Chalifoux testified he had been sober since the incident.
“This is no small feat and I commend him for his progress. I also acknowledge that he sustained significant injuries, and there continues to be ongoing pain from those injuries today,” the judge said. “However, justice demands that criminal convictions and punishments be reserved for those whose guilt have been established on the high standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The standard has not been met in this case.”
