Man pleads guilty to assault

Man has already served enough time in pre-trial custody

A26-year-old man who repeatedly stomped on another man during a fight last April has been released from custody, but only after spending several months behind bars.

Joel McKenzie Guzman was set to have a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court on charges of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon, but he pleaded guilty instead to two counts of assault causing bodily harm and was sentenced to nearly a year in jail.

Guzman was released, however, after he was given enhanced credit for time spent in custody while he waited for his matter to be resolved.

Court was told Guzman was part of a group of six to eight people who became embroiled in a dispute April 22 with two men who were sitting on an apartment balcony on the westside. The two men, who were members of one gang, taunted the group, which included members of another gang, as it passed by. Both sides traded angry retorts before they became embroiled in what turned out to be a vicious, one-sided fight.

The two men were kicked, punched and stabbed multiple times and had to be rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. One of the men had to be flown to Calgary.

Guzman struck one of the men in the head, knocking him to the ground where Guzman then brutally stomped on his head, body and chest multiple times. He denied, however, stabbing either of the men.

Two other individuals in the group pleaded guilty in June to two counts each of aggravated assault and were handed jail sentences, as well.

Dustin Courtney Okimaw was sentenced to 14 months in jail while Angela Dawn Spearchief received a sentence of 10 months. During their sentencing hearing the Crown said Okimaw had a knife, but even though he may not have actually stabbed anyone he was still party to the offence and must share the blame. Okimaw also has a lengthy criminal record, which includes convictions for robbery and assault.

Spearchief, on the other hand, has a comparatively minor record, but she told police she stabbed at least one of the men with a screwdriver shaped knife.

In addition to Guzman’s jail sentence, he was ordered to submit a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Databank, and he is prohibited from possessing firearms and other weapons for 10 years.