Verdict hinged on victim’s credibility, judge says
‘Nothing she could do about it,’ accused said, according to court testimony
Brendon Spurrell was found guilty of sexual assault Thursday in a decision the judge said came down to a test of credibility between a victim who “never wavered” in her testimony and Spurrell, who the judge called “evasive, cunning, defensive and aggressive.”
Superior Court Justice Calum MacLeod said Spurrell, who was self-represented at trial, at times “demonstrated he can be a self-described smartass.”
MacLeod said the victim, who sat in the courtroom clasping hands and hugging supporters as the guilty verdict was read, was credible and consistent when she testified that Spurrell demanded sex during an argument in May 2019, pinned her down in a leglock and forcibly touched her as she protested, then pushed her up against a wall and assaulted her and threatened her life.
The complainant’s name is shielded by a publication ban customary with sexual assault cases.
According to the victim, he told her “there was no one there and there was nothing she could do about it.” He hurled insults at her when she refused his demands, then became enraged when she threatened to report the sexual assault to police.
“He became angry and violent, pushing her against the door and uttering threats, allegedly he told her not to forget that he knew where her daughter went to day care and he would kill them both if he went to jail for this,” the judge said in a summary of the evidence.
Spurrell denied the entire account during trial, and claimed the victim fabricated the charges “because she was going to break up with me and wanted to get rid of me.”
The sexual assault, assault and uttering threats charges “turn almost entirely on credibility, because there is little or no forensic evidence,” the judge said.
While numerous police officers took witness statements and testified, this was not a case involving fingerprints or DNA, MacLeod said.
“I listened and observed the testimony carefully, I compared the version of events described by each of them and I considered what little objective evidence there is. In general, I believe the evidence of the complainant and the other witnesses for the Crown and I do not believe the accused,” MacLeod concluded.
The victim gave testimony consistent with the descriptions she gave in statements to police, and never recanted, though the judge noted she phoned police the day after the assault on May 14 and said she no longer wanted to pursue charges or testify in court.
The victim did testify at trial and said that Spurrell was standing beside her at the time imploring her to call police to say she had changed her mind.
“She has never wavered and she’s never given anyone a reason to believe she’s making up the event,” MacLeod said.
In assessing Spurrell’s credibility, the judge said he had the benefit of his testimony and observing his conduct throughout the trial, along with his previous criminal record, which includes a sexual-assault conviction.
Following the assault, Spurrell left the woman’s residence to attend a meeting with his probation officer, and had been bound by a court order from that prior sexual assault conviction to keep the peace and demonstrate good behaviour. He was also found guilty Thursday of breaching that condition.
“His history shows a consistent and disturbing disrespect for legal boundaries and norms,” the judge said. “Throughout this trial he demonstrated that he can be intelligent, resourceful, articulate and respectful. Unfortunately as the evidence demonstrated, and as he himself put it, he can be a self-described smartass.
"He can also be evasive, cunning, defensive and aggressive.”
Spurrell was also found guilty of assaulting a man during a related incident on June 9.
Spurrell overheard an intervention where friends were privately trying to convince the victim to leave him, and witnesses said he charged up the stairs shirtless with a hammer and started punching the boyfriend of one of the women until the man disarmed him and wrestled him to the floor.
Police charged him with assault but he was released and allowed to stay with the victim.
The woman broke up with him a few days later, and she and her friends testified about a series of threatening phone calls he unknowingly made on speakerphone.
Det. Krista Mallon called him to say he would be charged with sexual assault and asked that he turn himself in.
“This phone’s going to be broken and good luck finding me,” Spurrell told her, then boasted he was a “master AWOLer.”
“He then destroyed his cellphone and attempted to vanish,” the judge said.
“The following day he was found in Huntsville behind the wheel of a stolen pickup truck. That truck had disappeared overnight from a home in Ottawa (and) unfortunately for the accused the truck also had a tracking device.”
The judge stayed a charge of auto theft as Spurrell had already served 23 days in jail for that offence, and found him not guilty of obstructing justice for a “manipulative” letter sent to the victim from jail once again urging her to drop the charges.
A sentencing date will be set at a future hearing. ahelmer@postmedia.com Twitter.com/ helmera