BOYLE - A woman who testified her boyfriend pulled her hair and almost ripped her ear off, saw her former love interest cuffed and led out of court to begin a six-month jail sentence for his crimes against her.
In Boyle Provincial Court Sept. 28, Judge Brian Fraser presided over the trial of Kim Robert Ross, 46, who previously pleaded not guilty to charges of assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and failing to comply with an undertaking.
Crown prosecutor Mark Facundo introduced the complainant as his first and only witness and asked her to tell the story of what happened on the night of Jan. 17, 2021, at a trailer “in the middle of nowhere” outside of Boyle.
The woman testified she had met Ross about a year before in February and that he spent most of his time with her at her apartment, which she had been evicted from. She was planning to rent the trailer where the assault occurred, assuming it belonged to his parents.
On the night in question, she told court Ross had lost his phone and was blaming her for it, and the argument escalated to a physical assault where he grabbed her by the hair, threw her down and choked her with his hands. She then “clawed at his face and he didn’t like that,” and proceeded to beat her with his fists and elbows, which she said resulted in a fractured hand as she tried to cover her face.
“It was nothing less than brutal,” she said, adding the doctor “said my ear was half off my head.”
Ross then left the residence to get a cigarette from the neighbours, with the woman locking the door behind him. When he returned a half-hour later, she unlocked the door and he asked, “What happened to you?”
She had already called RCMP at this point and when they arrived, they took her to the Boyle Healthcare Centre where she received an undetermined number of stitches on the inside and outside of her ear. Later, it was also found her hand was also fractured, she testified.
The woman was then presented with pictures taken shortly after the incident occurred, which were very difficult for her to look at, causing her to become emotional on the stand.
Upon cross-examination by Ross’ defence lawyer Elizabeth Salley, the woman admitted she had been evicted from several apartments in Edmonton but called Salley’s repeated questions “inane” and demanded she not yell at her. The defendant was then warned by Judge Fraser, for the first time, not to speak out of turn, after he responded out loud to the woman’s claims.
It was then Ross’ turn on the witness stand where he refuted much of what the woman had testified to. He told court they had been drinking vodka and gingerale because they had run out of beer, and he had tried to go to the neighbours’ to get cigarettes for her, as he didn’t smoke at the time, but she attacked him because she didn’t like one of the neighbours.
It also had nothing to do with a phone, he said, and noted he thought her fractured hand was caused by hitting him in the head.
“I’ve never attacked her, not once,” he said.
He admitted he grabbed her by the hair, but wasn’t aware of what happened to her ear, until he returned and saw the blood on the front of her shirt, at which point he asked her “What the hell happened to you?”
By the time he returned, he said, she had already phoned the police, as she had done dozens of times before for what he claimed were frivolous reasons.
When Facundo cross-examined him, Ross also admitted he was under a no-contact order with the woman at the time of the assault. He also said they got back together after he had spent two weeks in jail.
“He kept going back because he loved her,” said Salley.
“I had no intention of hurting her,” Ross said.
In his final argument, Facundo told Judge Fraser he was not pursuing the assault with a weapon charge but presented numerous aggravating factors such as the significant injury caused and that it occurred while Ross was under conditions to support his recommendation on sentencing. He also noted Ross was without a criminal record, but he was still seeking a global sentence of 120 days and 18 months' probation.
As his lawyer made her final statements, Ross and the woman began arguing in open court, at which point Fraser asked a sheriff to remove him from the courtroom.
Ross returned for Fraser’s verdict — guilty on the two remaining charges. Fraser told the courtroom he initially struggled coming to a determination but “lost any sympathy when I saw the extent of the injuries.”
He then went over and above Facundo’s recommended sentence, handing Ross six months in jail and one year of probation. He was also ordered to submit a DNA sample before he was cuffed and led out of court.
