(JESSICA WALLACE / iNFOnews.ca)
July 26, 2013 - 7:16 AM
EYE-CUE ASSAULT: NOW THREATS ALLEGED IN COURTHOUSE?
KAMLOOPS - The victim of an alleged attack with a pool cue inside a local nightclub last year told the court yesterday that he was lending a hand to an acquaintance in an altercation, but the defence says that's not the case at all.
"The altercation simply did not happen," defence lawyer Michelle Stanford said during cross-examination yesterday. "The amount of alcohol you had, you have your facts confused."
Abdulaziz Alhedaib, 28, testified as a Crown witness yesterday as to what happened on Nov. 4, 2012 that put him in the hospital for five months with brain damage.
Yousef Almotairi, 26, is charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon for allegedly jabbing Alhedaib in the eye with a pool cue around 1 a.m., Nov. 4, 2012 at Cactus Jacks nightclub.
The two were both Saudi Arabian international students at TRU at the time of the incident. According to Alhedaib, the two were school acquaintances and shared mutual friends.
Alhedaib said in his testimony that he was stepping in the middle of an altercation when the accused turned on him for no reason.
However, the defence said during cross-examination yesterday that he's got it all wrong, trying to bring his credibility into question.
"The amount of alcohol you had, you have your facts confused," she said.
Stanford said the defence case will show Almotairi's attack was reflexive and lacking the mens rea, or guilty mind, needed in a conviction.
She was also concerned about alleged threats to Almotairi in his native tongue by the victim, claiming he said two things under his breath in court yesterday including 'death is waiting for you.'
However, the judge advised Stanford to seek the appropriate avenues if Almotairi wishes to persue criminal charges with respect to the alleged threats.
The two-week trial is expected to wrap-up next week.
To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013