A provincial court judge found a woman guilty of assault and mischief under $5,000 in Quesnel on March 31.
On March 22, 2024, Kiera-Joan MacPherson, born in 1996, punched a man, with whom she had an on and off relationship, three times and wrecked his eyeglasses after a day of drinking alcohol together at her Prince George apartment. MacPherson denied the allegations and claimed that she was the victim.
Judge Judith Doulis found MacPherson to be an unreliable witness whose testimony was evasive, embellished and exaggerated.
“Moreover, I am troubled by her evolving testimony in what appears to be an attempt to reconcile inconsistencies in her evidence,” Doulis said in her judgment.
MacPherson’s testimony that the altercation occurred late at night was contradicted by the victim, a neighbour and an RCMP officer. A time- and date-stamped video showed MacPherson and the victim in a common hallway at 6 p.m.
“Kiera-Joan MacPherson says she is an ‘outdoors’ person. That being true, she had to know it is not dark at 6 p.m. on March 22 in Prince George,” Doulis wrote. “As a long-term resident of this area, this is a fact of which I can take judicial notice.”
MacPherson had become enraged and began yelling when the victim insisted on leaving her apartment. During a scuffle, MacPherson punched the man three times in his upper left cheek, just below his eye, and she deliberately twisted his eyeglasses beyond repair.
The victim is a disabled man who walks with a limp and relies on a scooter for his work, which involves returning empty cans and bottles for deposit refunds.
“I have no reasonable doubt as to Kiera-Joan MacPherson’s culpability to the offences charged, namely, assault and mischief,” Doulis concluded. “This is not a case where I am unable to decide whom or what to believe.”
MacPherson received a suspended sentence and 18 months probation. She was also ordered to pay $250 restitution.
