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April 16, 2013 - 5:44 PM
UPDATE - 5:35 p.m. April 16, 2013
A Sun Peaks hotel owner was found guilty today of assaulting a guest last year but won't see it on his criminal record.
Provincial court Judge Stephen Harrison granted Manfred Kurt Kasprzik a conditional discharge because of the circumstances surrounding the assault, including the victim's provocation.
Kasprzik was convicted today in Kamloops Provincial Court for one count of assault after an incident on March 25, 2012 at the Heffley Boutique Inn at Sun Peaks Resort.
A group of friends visiting the mountain for the night brought the party back to their hotel room after closing time at a nearby nightclub. Their noise level disrupted other hotel guests prompting Kasprzik to confront them.
Testimony from three of the patrons identified Kasprzik as the reason for a large goose-egg on 25-year-old Lucas Leslie's head.
The parties also divulged that Leslie had spat off prejudicial slurs relating to Kasprzik's German heritage, repeatedly calling him a number of names and profanities including 'f***ing Nazi German.'
Defence lawyer Richard Kaiser argued that collusion was involved between the three patrons who took the stand.
He said Leslie felt his rights were violated when Kasprzik entered their hotel room and wanted to teach him a lesson about how things work in Canada. Kaiser added that the three testimonies didn't add up.
However, provincial court Judge Stephen Harrison disagreed.
He dismissed Kasprzik's testimony, denying the assault, and found him to be guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Despite Harrison's decision to convict Kasprzik, he was handed a conditional discharge.
He will serve 30 hours of of community service, pay a victim surcharge and be on probation for nine months.
Harrison decided that the circumstances and Kasprzik's clean background did not merit a criminal record.
"You were provoked by the words of Mr. Leslie, but that did not give you the right to do what you did."
To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca or call (250) 319-7494.
3:45 p.m. April 16, 2013
The trial for a Sun Peaks hotel owner who allegedly assaulted a hotel patron last year began today in Kamloops provincial court.
Manfred Kurt Kasprzik is charged with one count of assault after an incident at the Heffley Boutique Inn in March 2012.
Crown prosecutor Will Burrows' first witness, Jasmine Robinson, described the event that led to the charges and how a night out on the mountain among friends turned sour.
She told the court that she and friends left for Sun Peaks on March 25, 2012 around 6 p.m. Her friend Lucas Leslie rented a hotel room for the night and the two along with their friend Hayley Hobbs drove up to the mountain. They bought beer and checked into the hotel while several of their other friends came in through the back door.
After playing cards and socializing, they went to another friend's home and ate pizza before returning to the hotel and heading out to a nearby nightclub.
"We were playing cards in the room for a couple hours then we went down to Mack Daddy's, the club," Robinson said.
They returned to the hotel once the bar shut down for some more fun after-hours.
"We were probably loud," Robinson said.
She said around 3 a.m. they heard a knock on the room door.
She said a man came in, pushing Hobbs out of the way, ordering two people out of the room due to overcapacity. She admitted there were about seven people in the room.
From there, Robinson described yelling and Leslie addressing a violation of privacy.
Robinson told the court that Leslie said to Kasprzik, who is of German decent: "This is not Nazi Germany, you can't just bust in here."
Robinson said Kasprzik punched Leslie in the face and portrayed a downward swinging motion to the court.
"He just seemed really angry," she said.
Defence lawyer Richard Kaiser inquired as to the state of sobriety of the witness on that night.
"I was fine, I didn't get super black-out wasted or anything," Robinson said.
She did, however, admit to being too intoxicated to give a statement to police that evening.
The trial continues with multiple other witnesses expected to testify including Leslie.
To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca or call (250) 319-7494.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013