An inmate with a lengthy criminal record avoided more jail time when a territorial court judge acquitted him of assaulting a corrections officer and uttering threats.

Restrained by wrist and ankle cuffs, Michael Nehass appeared in court Friday on two charges stemming from an incident at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre on Dec. 10, 2012.

Eldan Schmidt, a WCC corrections officer, told the RCMP Nehass had ignored repeated demands to "lock up,” or return to his cell, and had threatened the guard.

"He said, ‘Don't f*** with me .... You don't even know how close I am to smashing you up right now,'” Schmidt told the court.

He also said Nehass, 29, came within several inches of him, raised his arms and feigned a punch.

"He was obviously upset and he was trying to intimidate me by coming close to my person and into my personal space,” Schmidt said.

"In my experience, that's one of his favourite techniques.”

The court saw about three minutes of audio-free footage from a WCC security camera, which contradicted Schmidt's testimony.

"Clearly, that man does not raise his arms,” said defence lawyer David Tarnow.

He pointed out Schmidt had told RCMP officers Nehass had lunged forward and thrown a closed-fist punch that stopped just short of striking the guard.

"You were trying to embellish to make it worse for this fellow so he'd stay in segregation another 10 months,” Tarnow said.

Schmidt admitted his statement was incorrect, but that Nehass was nonetheless menacing, with muscles tensed and spittle flying during the confrontation.

"Spittle? You're making this up as you go along, aren't you?

"You lied to the police officer because you just love getting these guys in trouble.... You get your jollies from doing that....”

Schmidt had been supervising the WCC segregation unit, where "problematic” inmates are held for stretches of time and allowed out of their cell only one hour per day.

He had instructed Nehass to take 20 minutes to sweep and mop the unit's common area.

Instead, Schmidt said, Nehass walked near another cell, made "threatening gestures,” then sat down by a phone and made a call.

Several moments later, the video shows Nehass got up and confronted Schmidt, who said he no longer works shifts in the segregation unit.

"You remember what I did to Tony? I hit him so hard I pushed his nose back into his face,” Nehass allegedly said.

The remark referred to an incident in October 2010 where Nehass assaulted a WCC guard, throwing a punch that left a bone poking through his nose.

The defence said Schmidt's statement to the RCMP was "not forthright and completely exaggerated.”

He argued the Crown could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Nehass had uttered threats, much less assaulted a guard.

No other witnesses were called to the stand.

Judge Peter Chisolm acquitted Nehass of both charges.

Nehass, in custody since December 2011, has served time for manslaughter, aggravated assault, assaulting a peace officer and break and enter.

He has faced charges on more than 70 counts over the past decade.

A territorial court judge earlier this year denied Nehass's application for a psychological assessment to gauge his mental stability.

The Crown sought an assessment "to determine whether Mr. Nehass is suffering from a mental disorder which makes him incapable of understanding the nature and consequences of his acts and therefore not criminally responsible,” according to the judge's ruling.

"Mr. Nehass has been a very difficult prisoner; probably one so difficult has never been experienced,” said Judge E. Dennis Schmidt.

During his time at the Whitehorse jail, from which he is approaching his release date, Nehass has broken many windows, threatened guards and necessitated seclusion from the other inmates.