Whitehorse Daily Star

Woman found guilty of robbing 82-year-old man

A 32-year-old woman was found guilty of robbery and forcible entry Thursday, following a two-day trial in territorial court.

By AP on April 18, 2008

A 32-year-old woman was found guilty of robbery and forcible entry Thursday, following a two-day trial in territorial court.

Judge John Faulkner delivered the verdict on Sasha Sidney after less than an hour's deliberation.

Two charges of assault with a weapon and one charge of break and enter were stayed.

A sentencing hearing will be scheduled soon.

Sidney was arrested on June 21, 2007, in relation to a Porter Creek home invasion incident in which an 82-year-old man was robbed and pepper-sprayed in the face.

She has been in custody since last December.

The Crown prosecutor called four witnesses on the second day of the trial Thursday, bringing the total number to eight.

Whitehorse RCMP Const. Erica Hillbach testified she pulled a vehicle over on the side of the road on June 4, 2007, because it was being driven without any lights.

This incident occurred just minutes before the home invasion, and just a kilometre and a half away from the residence that was invaded, court heard.

Hillbach said she had recognized the driver as Sasha Sidney, and that she was acting "rushed" and "suspicious."

A woman who used to work as a bartender at the Casa Loma Motel testified she saw Sidney enter the bar briefly around 11:30 p.m. on June 3, the same night the home invasion took place.

"I know her kind of through friends," she said on the stand.

The third witness was Jason Anderson, operator of the Capital Towing Services company.

He testified he had sold a large, light-coloured vehicle to Sidney in May 2007, for $80.

The vehicle had been in the company's junkyard, waiting to be crushed, when Anderson found a buyer, court heard.

The 82-year-old victim had described seeing Sidney driving a car of similar description the night of the attack.

The final witness, RCMP Const. Lindsay Blair, testified she arrested Sidney on June 21, 2007, at the Elijah Smith Building in downtown Whitehorse.

Blair said she saw Sidney at the building and knew she was "arrestable" in relation to the incident on June 3.

Upon searching Sidney, Blair testified she found a crack pipe and some steel wool, which crack users are known to use as a filter.

In her final submission, Crown counsel Jennifer Grandy said that taken alone, no witness's testimony was enough to convict Sidney.

But with "the totality of the evidence, there is no conclusion other than Ms. Sidney is responsible," said Grandy.

In her final submission, defence lawyer Elaine Cairns said the Crown's case is "in many ways a circumstantial case."

Cairns also said it was "not sufficient" for the victim to be 80 per cent sure of his assailant's identity.

The elderly victim chose Sidney's photo from a lineup of 12 photos presented to him last June. On the first day of the trial, he testified he was "80 to 90 per cent sure" the woman in the photo was the same one who robbed his house and pepper-sprayed him on June 4.

In his decision, Faulkner said it could be a coincidence that Sidney was seen at a bar and on a stretch of highway near the scene of the home invasion on the night it occurred.

But, he said, "the odds of these things occurring together in an innocent fashion are astronomical."

Comments (1)

Up 0 Down 0

Jessica L on Apr 21, 2008 at 6:55 am

SICK!!

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