Stabbed in the face

Rideout said the Kentville Police received a call on Dec. 6, 2016 from Porter’s Trophy Shop, indicating that there was a man inside who had just been stabbed.

The individual who had called police pointed to a man outside, Stuart, and indicated that he had stabbed the victim. When an officer went outside, Stuart walked up to him, turned around and placed his hands behind his back, saying, “It was me, just take me because I did it.”

Stuart, who was covered in blood, indicated to police that “enough was enough” and something had to be done to the victim. Stuart advised that he had waited for the victim all day and when the victim opened his door to leave his apartment, located upstairs in the same building as the trophy shop, Stuart stabbed him with a steak knife.

“He advised that he couldn’t take it anymore and that he wanted to kill ( the victim),” Rideout said.

Stuart provided a video statement to police where he confessed to the stabbing and gave details on what had transpired leading up to it. Stuart indicated that he used to be friends with the victim growing up.

Stuart indicated that he had problems with the victim, who was his neighbour, keeping him up all night by being loud. Stuart said he had to quit his job, which involved shiftwork, because of this.

Stuart indicated that he had been thinking about harming the victim for a couple weeks and woke up on Dec. 6 thinking that was the day he was finally going to do something about it.

The court heard that Stuart heard the victim leaving on two or three occasions but couldn’t bring himself to do anything.

“He finally decided he was ready and went outside ( the victim’s) apartment and waited for him,” Rideout said. “As soon as (the victim) opened the door, Stuart stabbed him in the face.”

The victim fell into his apartment and Stuart continued stabbing at him as the door shut behind them. A struggle ensued and the victim, who is larger than Stuart, ended up on top of Stuart. The victim was bleeding heavily from his face and the blood was flowing down on Stuart. The accused attempted to stab the victim in the head but the knife came out of Stuart’s hand.

Stuart picked up the knife and went back to his apartment, where he noticed that the knife was bent. The victim incurred four lacerations to the facial area that required 16 stitches.

The defence requested an assessment of Stuart for criminal responsibility on Dec. 7, which was ordered by the court. A resulting report indicated that Stuart was not criminally responsible at the time of the stabbing due to “a major depressive disorder” resulting in delusions.

On April 12, the Crown requested another assessment from an independent psychiatrist. The second report concurred that Stuart did suffer from a major depressive disorder but did not agree that this would have resulted in delusions. The report concluded that Stuart was criminally responsible at the time of the offence. The defence abandoned an application to have Stuart declared not criminally responsible on June 8.

Rideout drew attention to a passage in the second report. The psychiatrist indicated that the law requires a finding of criminal responsibility or not and there is no avenue for a more nuanced finding of partial culpability.

Stuart became preoccupied with the idea that the actions of the victim that kept him awake at night were intentional and preoccupied with the thought of taking action. Stuart’s depressive symptoms may have reduced Stuart’s ability to problem solve the situation, such as moving to a new apartment.

Rideout said the author of the second report agreed with Rideout’s characterization that Stuart had a “reduced moral blameworthiness” at the time of the offence. Stuart expressed remorse for his actions in his pre-sentence report. He has no prior criminal record.

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, I came down on the conclusion that I was not satisfied,” she said, that any of the charges against Dodds had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

“As a result, I am acquitting you, Mr. Dodds, of all charges.”

Dodds, who was denied bail and held in custody on a due course of law remand, walked out of the courtroom a free man.

Dodds had pleaded not guilty to charges of assault; verbally conveying a death threat; sexual assault; unlawful confinement; inducing a woman to submit to sexual acts by threatening to revoke her surety; using threats of violence for the purpose of compelling the alleged victim to perform certain sexual acts; and trafficking in hydromorphone.

It had been alleged that Dodds committed the offences in Wolfville between Feb. 13 and March 7.

The trial, which began on March 30, unfolded over several days. The identity of the complainant is protected by a publication ban. Dodds had bailed the woman out of jail and acted as her surety.

Her allegations included that he had used her opiate addiction and threats of pulling her bail to manipulate her. She alleged that he would dispense hydromorphone pills in exchange for sexual acts. Dodds denied all of the allegations when he testified in his own defence on June 15.