A Windsor judge has acquitted a man of Intimate Partner Violence.
Douglas Serrano, 38, was found not guilty Tuesday of charges from 2010 against his then girlfriend.
**Warning: Contains graphic content
Serrano was acquitted of sexual assault, assault causing bodily harm, forcible confinement, criminal harassment and three additional counts of assault.
“There is not sufficient evidence for me to be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that these incidents occurred,” Justice Scott Campbell said in his decision which took nearly 90 minutes to read.
“A suspicion of guilt or a conclusion the accused is probably or likely guilty is not sufficient.”
Historical offences
The female complainant first went to police in 2010 to report what she called an “abusive relationship” with Serrano.
She told police over the course of their year-long relationship Serrano was frequently jealous and would lash out at her, especially if he had been drinking.
The woman described three separate alleged incidents to police; when she was punched for threatening to leave, slapped during an argument and backhanded by Serrano.
When she was allegedly punched, the woman said her jaw was broken.
She also told police Serrano came to her home uninvited, he forced her to have intercourse that made her uncomfortable and he wouldn’t let her leave their apartment on one occasion.
When she went to police in 2010, the officer who interviewed the complainant testified at trial that he didn’t notice any physical injuries to the woman.
Charges laid in 2023
Charges were not laid against Serrano until after the woman came back to police in 2022.
“A case of this nature cannot be decided on stereotypical assumptions about how a victim of sexual assault would be expected to act after an incident,” the judge said.
“It appears to me the disclosure in 2010 did not include all of the incidents reported in 2022.”
The judge said he did not draw any inferences from the passage of time and noted the complainants’ evidence on sexual assault did not need to be corroborated by any other witness.
He noted then that his decision would have to come down to reliability and credibility of both the woman and the accused.
“If after a careful consideration of the evidence I’m unable to decide whom to believe I must find the accused not guilty,” Justice Campbell said.
Both the defence and the prosecution pointed out the inconsistencies in the evidence of the both the complainant and the accused.
The judge noted Serrano had a very “different version” of their relationship.
“I found he would change his evidence when confronted with an aspect which would make him look bad,” the judge said.
Justice Campbell dismissed the accused’s’ version of events.
“Difficulties” with woman’s evidence
The judge noted the complainants story changed over time.
For instance, she said two serious incidents happened in the same week but then noted it was winter cold for one and summer warm for another.
And she told the court her memory became clearer over time.
“Its difficult to accept that clarity came to her at a later time,” the judge said. “She appeared to be confusing and mixing up incidents. Not only as to when they occurred but what occurred.”
The woman testified that she sought medical attention for her broken jaw but couldn’t provide any medical records to support her alleged injuries.
And she testified that the officer who interviewed her in 2010 took photographs of her broken jaw, bruised face and split lip.
“But the officer testified there were no photographs taken because there were not injuries to take photographs of,” Justice Campbell said.
Finally, the woman also “embellished” the number of witnesses to the various incidents with the accused, according to the judge.
“I find (with) the totality of the evidence I am left in a state of reasonable doubt,” Justice Campbell said when acquitting Serrano on all charges.
Serrano remains in jail
Serrano viewed Tuesday’s hearing remotely from jail.
His lawyer, Evie Lipton said in a statement her client was “satisfied with the assessment (by the judge) and the outcome.”
Lipton declined to comment further as Serrano has another matter before the court.
Assistant Crown Attorney Christina Eid confirmed Serrano is still facing separate charges of sexual assault and break and enter.
He will return to court on Thursday.
