Whitehorse Daily Star

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Michael Nehass

Special designation to be sought for offender

A jury has found Michael Nehass guilty of assaulting a Watson Lake woman with a weapon, unlawfully confining her and breaching his probation in December 2011.

By Rhiannon Russell on May 25, 2015

A jury has found Michael Nehass guilty of assaulting a Watson Lake woman with a weapon, unlawfully confining her and breaching his probation in December 2011.

The 12 jury members found him not guilty of uttering death threats to her.

The verdict came late Friday afternoon, after a two-week trial. When it was read aloud in Yukon Supreme Court, Nehass was expressionless. He rested his elbows on the court table and clasped his hands in front of his face.

Crown prosecutor Terri Kaur said she will be seeking a long-term or dangerous offender designation for Nehass at his sentencing hearing, which will likely be held this summer.

Nehass, 31, who was self-represented, said he intends to file an application under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, alleging his rights have been violated while he’s been in custody at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre since December 2011.

The jury members deliberated for about 5 1/2 hours Friday.

At 3:15 p.m., they came back with a question for Justice Scott Brooker: with the uttering-threats charge, could they separate the threats Nehass allegedly made against Agnes Reid, the complainant, from the threats against her family?

Brooker told them they could not. Either they find Nehass threatened both Reid and her family or they find him not guilty.

About 30 minutes after that, they had their verdict.

Court clerks, Department of Justice employees and lawyers gathered to hear it.

Nehass’ 3 1/2-year incarceration has been high-profile. In January 2014, he was dragged naked and shackled before a judge via videolink from the jail. The judge later apologized for the incident.

Nehass has also spent much of his time at the jail in solitary confinement. He alleges his human rights have been violated. His father has filed a complaint with the Yukon Human Rights Commission.

While Kaur hasn’t said what the Crown will be seeking for Nehass’ sentence, it may be time served.

Nehass was also sentenced last March to 21 months, time served, for offences he committed inside the jail during the summer of 2013.

During the trial, several witnesses testified, including Reid and Kathy Bailey, in whose apartment the assault took place.

Reid said she was leaving the Lakeview Apartments in Watson Lake on Dec. 21, 2011, when Nehass waved her over from the front door.

Then he grabbed her and pulled her inside. She said he hit her in the face and dragged her up the stairs by her hair.

He pushed her into Bailey’s apartment, and proceeded to choke, hit and threaten her for 30 to 45 minutes, she said.

At one point, he pulled a knife from his jeans and held it to her throat. Eventually, he left and and she drove back to her nearby house.

Bailey testified she witnessed the assault happen, though in a statement she gave to RCMP two weeks after the incident, she said nothing happened. She didn’t even see Reid that day, she said.

Bibhas Vaze, the lawyer appointed to assist during the trial, argued Bailey wasn’t a credible witness because she changed her story.

Bailey said she was scared for the safety of one of her daughters, who hung out with Nehass’ sister, and so denied seeing anything to police.

Nehass will next be in court June 2 to set a date for his sentencing.

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