Judge denies bail in domestic assault case

A man who is alleged to have assaulted his partner and has several convictions of assaulting her in the past was denied bail in a Brandon provincial courtroom on Thursday.

“There is a serious concern about the protection of the complainant in this matter and a substantial likelihood that he’ll commit further offences as he’s done in the past if I release him on bail,” Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said.

Isaiah Blacksmith, 28, is charged with assault causing bodily harm and failing to comply with probation.

Crown attorney Sarah Kok said the Crown opposed Blacksmith’s release on the ground that he would be a risk to the public and specifically the complainant, who he is convicted of assaulting three times in the past.

“There has certainly been a long-standing pattern of domestic violence between Mr. Blacksmith and (the complainant),” Kok said.

Virden RCMP received a report on May 8 that a woman was assaulted by her partner.

The report came from two witnesses who also live in the community. They alleged that Blacksmith stomped on the woman’s head, kicked her in the face and dragged her by the hair, Kok said.

When police got to the community, the complainant was reluctant to talk but ultimately alleged that Blacksmith assaulted her, Kok said.

She said officers noticed multiple injuries to the woman’s face, which they photographed. She had a mark on her forehead and what police and nurses believed to be a boot imprint on the bottom of her face.

Kok said she also had scrapes on her legs and bruises on the top of her hands.

“These injuries are … consistent with what she indicated because she says that she was starting to cover her face with her hands while Mr. Blacksmith was kicking her and stomping her,” Kok said.

Before transporting the complainant to the hospital, police spoke with the two witnesses who gave statements. Kok said the witnesses both knew Blacksmith his whole life.

Police couldn’t locate Blacksmith immediately and arrested him at his residence on May 21. Kok said Blacksmith allegedly tried to leave through a window, but was ultimately arrested and taken into custody, where he has remained.

Kok said she received a medical report for the complainant’s injuries but added that it wasn’t as “fulsome” as she had hoped, as the complainant refused the majority of tests the hospital wanted to complete, including a CT scan or X-rays.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know the true gravity of her injuries given that she left without doctor’s advice at that point,” Kok said. “I understand she’s now back in the community of Sioux Valley and doing well.”

Kok said that even if the defence offered a bail plan that would have him live outside of Sioux Valley, she thinks the complainant will still become reinvolved with Blacksmith.

“(The complainant) is extremely likely to fall into the hands of the domestic violence cycle,” Kok said. “She sometimes has gone back to Mr. Blacksmith despite his conditions prohibiting contact, and it appears that she’s extremely vulnerable in this circumstance to his violence.”

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison said despite having two witnesses, Blacksmith “maintains his innocence,” and the matter is set for trial in September.

“His evidence is that she drank about 40 ounces of vodka and that she was very, very drunk,” Harrison said.

Harrison said Blacksmith grew up mostly in CFS care and was exposed to alcohol and domestic abuse.

He offered a bail plan that would have him reside in Birdtail Sioux First Nation under as strict of a curfew as the court deemed necessary. He said he could put up $200 for bail and a personal recognizance of $2,000.

Harrison said that while $200 may not be a lot of money, it’s a lot considering his personal circumstances.

Hewitt-Michta acknowledged that Blacksmith is presumed innocent at this point, but added the allegations are a “grave concern to the court.”

“I don’t trust Mr. Blacksmith to follow those conditions, and if I release him, I am endangering the complainant and I fully expect that there will be trouble between now and the trial date if I let him out,” she said.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com