A judge will deliver his verdict today in the case of a Red Deer man charged with breaking into a sleeping woman’s house and sexually assaulting her.
Justice Kirk Sisson heard closing arguments from the defence and Crown prosecutor following the testimony of the last defence witness Tuesday before adjourning the case of Dustin Pierre Gladue, 24, in Court of Queen’s Bench.
Gladue, who remains in custody, is charged with sexual assault with a weapon and uttering threats in an April 12, 2008, incident at a Red Deer condominium complex.
The alleged victim picked Gladue out of a 10-person photo lineup presented to her about two hours after the incident.
The woman, in her late 40s, testified earlier that a loud noise at her door woke her at about 2:10 a.m but figured it was her son coming home.
However, she saw the accused at the foot of her bed holding what she thought was a 30-cm knife above his head.
“He said, ‘Get up I’m going to stab you,’” she testified.
She said they went outside to a bench area, where the accused dropped his pants and demanded sex.
The woman said she managed to get a couple of good looks at the man’s face and could tell he was aboriginal.
Prosecutor Jason Snider, in his closing argument, said the evidence of the victim, coupled with footprint evidence taken from her home, the fact she picked him out of photo lineup and a track by a police dog which led to where the accused was being arrested, should be sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction.
“His own evidence puts him in the vicinity of the offence,” said Snider about Gladue’s testimony on Monday.
Gladue testified he thought he was being arrested for causing a disturbance at his sister Cheryl’s home which prompted her to kick him out of the house around 1:30 to 2 a.m.
Glaude said he had lived for about six weeks with Cheryl in the same complex as the victim.
He said he never met the accused and didn’t know of her.
Defence lawyer Rick Wyrozub of Ponoka argued the victim’s testimony was faulty because she said her attacker wore a belt and Gladue had none.
Wyrozub said the victim’s testimony also indicated she wasn’t totally positive Gladue attacked her.
He also said the new RCMP photo lineup procedure wasn’t followed which could have tainted the victim’s identification of the accused.
New rules prohibit witnesses from comparing photos. Now they are supposed to be shown one at a time.
Bianca Gladue, another sister of the accused, testified she was on the phone with her brother at the time of the alleged attack.
She said she talked with him for about 20-30 minutes but that conflicted with several officer’s testimony who said they were arresting the accused around that time.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com