There is no question Gerald Chretien suffered a traumatic event on a November 2021 night that left him a paraplegic.
However, the 65-year-old carpenter's recollections of what occurred immediately after he fell from the roof of a downtown residence are "virtually non-existent," a judge said Tuesday.
"There also is concern about possible drug use" that night, Ontario Court Justice Romuald Kwolek said when he acquitted the man accused of inflicting the injuries on Nov. 11, 2021.
The injury from the fall and possible drug use raise concerns about the reliability of Chretien's testimony about what occurred, he said.
David Carrie was charged with assault causing bodily harm, forcible confinement and assault with a weapon (a wrench).
The 57-year-old accused pleaded not guilty to the charges at a November trial, where Kwolek heard testimony from a city police officer, two paramedics and the complainant.
In addition to an agreed statement of facts, prosecutor Trent Wilson filed about 1,000 pages of medical reports from the Sault Area Hospital and Sudbury Health Sciences North.
Defence lawyer Kamran Sajid called no witnesses.
The court heard paramedics responded to an anonymous 911 call about a possible drug overdose at 151 Wellington St. E., where they found Chretien on the front lawn complaining of severe neck pain.
He was conscious and answered all of their questions, providing information about his name and age.
One of the paramedics testified that Chretien told him he had been "smoking meth today with a friend."
City police officers were not dispatched to the scene and didn't become involved until January 2022, at which time photos were taken of the outside of the house.
Chretien vehemently denied that he had consumed any drugs that night when he testified.
He said he had gone to the residence to retrieve some clothes and tools that were there.
Carrie demanded he pay him "over $1,000 bucks," money he claimed the complainant owed him, then slapped Chretien from behind, knocking him unconscious.
When he got up, the accused swung at him with a wrench, missing him, but striking a window, he told the court.
The blow broke the glass, allowing the window to swing open, Chretien said.
Fearing for his life, he climbed out the window and grabbed the eavestrough, which came loose. His foot hit the porch railing and he fell backwards, breaking his neck.
Carrie came out the window behind him, he said.
Although Chretien spoke with the paramedics and gave them information, he denied having any recollection of the events until sometime later when he was in the Sudbury hospital.
In his 14-page written decision, Kwolek said the court accepts the evidence that indicates Chretien crawled through a window, fell off the porch roof to the ground, landing on his neck and breaking it.
He noted that in all of the pages of medical documentation regarding Chretien's treatment, there is no indication a toxicology screen was ordered to determine if there was any evidence of methamphetamine in Chretien's blood.
The paramedics didn't notice any obvious signs of drug use in the area and couldn't conclude that he was under the influence of drugs.
There is no clinical evidence that could confirm or refute whether there was significant meth in the complainant's system when he was admitted to hospital, the judge said.
Kwolek also pointed to "an important factor" — the lack of physical evidence that would either corroborate or contradict his testimony.
There is no evidence of any glass or shards of glass on Chretien's clothing or any cuts on his skin resulting from being in close contact with a broken window.
"The lack of such evidence is a factor the court must consider in determining if the Crown had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt."
The judge said he accepted some of the concerns raised by the defence that affect Chretien's reliability and credibility.
The complainant is a witness who "has a history of criminal convictions for crimes of dishonesty."
Chretien admitted he has a lengthy criminal record, but kept insisting that the convictions occurred more than 30 years ago, although that clearly wasn't the case, Kwolek said.
He was convicted on Oct. 19, 2021 — less than a month before the incident — with uttering a forged document.
In December 2010, he was found guilty of three counts of fraud, and has numerous convictions between 1994 and 2000, including crimes of dishonesty in 1997.
His record also includes five convictions for impaired driving, five for narcotic-related offences, 12 for violence and on nine different dates he was convicted of property crimes or crimes of dishonesty.
"Admittedly, the majority of the convictions were over 20 years old and pre-dated the year 2000," the judge said.
But given his background, the court "should be very careful in reviewing the evidence of this witness with a critical eye, especially if such evidence is not corroborated."
The accused doesn't have to prove his innocence, Kwolek said.
It's up to the prosecution to prove the elements of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt.
He dismissed all the charges against Carrie, concluding he's not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the man's guilt because of his concerns about the credibility and reliability of Chretien's testimony about what occurred.
Carrie remains in custody on other charges.