Court File and Parties
Ontario Court of Justice
Between:
Her Majesty the Queen
-and-
Adam Eccles
Before: Justice Michael G. March
Heard on: September 20, 2018
Reasons for Judgment released on: October 23, 2018
Counsel:
- Teresa James, for the Crown
- Adam Eccles, Self-Represented Accused
Judgment
Introduction
1Adam Eccles ("Eccles") stands charged that on May 19, 2018, he committed an assault upon Lorna Ranger ("Ranger") contrary to s. 266 of the Criminal Code ("the Code"). Eccles and Ranger were husband and wife. On May 19, 2018, they were separated. To perhaps understate the situation, relations between them at that point were strained. By the time the trial commenced and ended on September 20, 2018, they were divorced.
Summary of the Relevant Evidence
Lorna Ranger
2Ranger is a registered practical nurse. She moved to the Cobden area some seven years ago. She began cohabiting with Eccles, her former partner, in 2012. They married on August 9, 2015. The couple separated shortly after Eccles started seeing another woman. She did not provide a time frame for when this occurred (perhaps she did not know), but it is clear on the evidence called at trial that Ranger knew of Eccles' girlfriend before she called police on May 19, 2018.
3Ranger had first attempted to contact Eccles on his cellular phone earlier that day. There was a problem with the washing machine in the matrimonial home where she continued to reside. She believed that Eccles, who was then living at his girlfriend's, was ignoring her calls.
4Ranger took pictures of the water leaking in the basement. She sent those photographs to Eccles' cellular phone. She received then a text from Eccles telling her to "Turn off the fucking washer." Approximately half an hour later, Eccles arrived at the home to assess the situation. He went to the basement. After a brief inspection, he told Ranger he was unhooking the machine, and added "Fuck you guys!"
5Ranger began to taunt Eccles while they were both in the basement. She suggested he should tell his girlfriend about the texts he had been sending to her [Ranger]. Apparently, the texts expressed his continuing love for Ranger, as well as his indecision over whether they should break their relationship off.
6Eccles was upset by this suggestion. Ranger testified that he pushed her with two hands, palms open, backwards. Her back and buttocks made contact with the freezer behind her.
7Ranger responded with her own push to the chest area of Eccles. She tried to knock a speaker belonging to Eccles off a table. Essentially, the fight was on.
8Ranger stated that Eccles was able to catch the speaker before it fell from the table. He then grabbed her arms, squeezing in particular her left one, causing her pain. She told him he was hurting her. Her daughter, Alyssa Ranger ("Alyssa"), heard her mother's complaint. Alyssa went downstairs. In or about this time, Eccles let Ranger go.
9Ranger told him she was calling the police. He asserted he was not leaving. He wanted to collect some of his property. She confirmed for him again she was calling 911. Eccles grabbed a few of his things. He departed before police arrived.
10Ranger was adamant that she had not placed a hand on the person of Eccles before she was pushed. Nor did she threaten to do so. She had no weapon. She denied drinking any alcohol that day.
11In describing why she attempted to push Eccles' speaker off the table, she was candid in saying she was being an "ass." She was clear as to the sequence thereafter. Eccles caught the speaker before it fell. He then grabbed her by the left arm. She struggled to get him to release his grasp. She tried bending the fingers on his left hand. She told him he was hurting her. He let go as Alyssa was coming down the stairs.
12The squeezing of her arm left a large bruise. She also had bruises on her legs. She thought this occurred when she tried to push the speaker off the table. In response, Eccles pushed her again. She tripped and fell to the basement floor as a result.
13Upon arrival, police took a photograph of the bruise on Ranger's left arm. The photo clearly depicted discolouration to her inner bicep area. The remnants of the bruise were still visible when she gave evidence on September 20, 2018 – some four months later.
14Apparently, Eccles and Ranger divorced on July 23, 2018. Ranger explained that she just walked away from everything.
15Under cross-examination, Ranger agreed that she followed Eccles down to the basement. She confirmed that she did not fall the first time she was pushed, but she did the second time. Her shins and knees were bruised and scraped as a result. She did not show the injuries to police. She did not notice them until she changed her pants.
16She denied punching Eccles. Equally, she disagreed with the suggestion she was throwing frozen meat from the freezer at Eccles. She vehemently denied that she was trying to keep Eccles in the basement. She pointed out the difference in their statures to illustrate the unlikelihood that this could have occurred.
17Eccles played for Ranger an audiotaped portion of their verbal exchange in the basement on May 19, 2018, which he recorded on his phone. Ranger could be heard telling Eccles to get out or get lost. Eccles did not want to leave because he felt Ranger would wreck his house.
18Eccles' language was most vile on the recording. He called Ranger "a cunt." Vulgar insults were hurled back and forth between Eccles and Ranger. Eccles commanded Alyssa to tell her mother, Ranger, to stop. Ranger could be heard stating her imminent intention to call police. Eccles invited her to "…go ahead." Ranger complained of being all bruised up. She warned Eccles, "You're going to jail!" Eccles replied with, "I was beatin' on you? You were throwing meat at me." Near the end of Eccles' audio recording, in a moment of wise reflection, he says to himself, "I shouldn't have even come."
19Ranger agreed that she had a further encounter with Eccles the following day (May 20, 2018) outside the Cobden Legion. She denied behaving in an aggressive manner toward him on that occasion. Instead, she characterized the meeting more as an opportunity to meet Eccles' girlfriend, whom she referred to as "that" in her testimony.
20Ranger confirmed as well that she did not wish for police to charge Eccles.
21Under re-examination, Ranger explained that she did not know that contact between Eccles and her was prohibited on May 20, 2018. The police had not yet given her paperwork to that effect.
22She confirmed that she was not afraid of Eccles. She had never been. The chance encounter in Cobden, she stated most disingenuously, was a good time for her to introduce herself to Eccles' girlfriend. As a wife, she thought it was "…inappropriate for someone to be screwing with your husband."
23More unpleasant exchanges ensued. Ranger said to Eccles' girlfriend, "Oh hi. I'm Lorna, Adam's wife. You got a really ugly face." His girlfriend responded with words to suggest Ranger was fat. This time, it was Eccles who called police. Ranger left telling Eccles' girlfriend, "Nice to meet you."
24During re-examination, Ranger confirmed she knew that Eccles was recording their exchange in the basement. She saw him pull out his phone and hit the record button. The recording captured accurately what was said, but Ranger explained that Eccles was saying things that she had not done, or were not actually happening. For example, she denied that she ever threw meat at Eccles. She was adamant she did nothing to prevent him from leaving, should he have so chosen. In fact, she encouraged him to leave. Indeed, the recording of what Ranger said bears this out.
Alyssa Ranger
25Alyssa is the 22 year old daughter of Ranger. Alyssa was present for the aftermath of the altercation between her mother and Eccles.
26In describing her relationship with Eccles, Alyssa said that they were "okay." They got along for her mother's sake. In general, she characterized Eccles as "…a good guy."
27The crisis with the washing machine related solely to Alyssa. She needed her clothes laundered urgently. Ranger thus turned to Eccles for help.
28When Eccles arrived, Alyssa was in the bathroom. While she was brushing her teeth, she heard banging in the basement. There was a lot of yelling. Sadly, at that point in time, arguing was normal for Ranger and Eccles. However, this argument sounded particularly intense to Alyssa. She tried to mind her own business and stay out of it.
29She heard her mom say, "Stop it!" or "You're hurting me." With that, Alyssa headed downstairs.
30When she got to the basement, Ranger and Eccles were next to one another about a foot apart. They were not engaged in any physical contact. Ranger began pacing about. She went upstairs past Eccles. He was saying, "Get your mom. She's wrecking my stuff," or words to that effect.
31Alyssa then tried to calm Eccles down. She helped him move some of his property because the basement was flooded. She did not witness anyone throw anything. She saw no meat lying about.
Eccles
32Eccles represented himself. He chose to testify.
33He explained that he has known Ranger for a long time – since they were kids. He described her as a "runner." By that, I took him to mean that she tended to walk away from the problems life at times presents.
34He loved Ranger. He tried to keep her happy over the course of the six to seven years they were a couple. He said he made the 'mistake' of marrying her. He thought it might fix things.
35On May 19, 2018, Eccles knew he had to play with his band at the Cobden Legion that night. He was trying to get some rest in the afternoon as a result. His phone went off. There was a notification that he had received a text. It was from Ranger. It read, "Can you get off your whore long enough to come fix the washer."
36Eccles went to the former matrimonial home. He explained that Ranger would not get off him from the time he went through the door. He tried to ignore her. He went to the laundry room in the basement. He checked its hoses. They seemed fine. He concluded it must be a problem with the pipes underneath. He did not believe he would have time to fix it. He would have to shut the water off.
37When he shared this information with Ranger, she told him, "Fuck you." She went into a nearby freezer, took out packages of frozen meat and began whipping them at his head. She then walked toward him. She hit him in the face. One strike caught Eccles in the ribs. He tried to grab her arms. She then kicked in in the scrotum. She slammed his speaker on a nearby table.
38At that point, Alyssa came downstairs. He asked her, "Can you do something with your mom?" Ranger went upstairs soon after Alyssa's arrival. Eccles began gathering up his speakers and cords. He heard Ranger threaten that she was calling the cops. He told her to go ahead.
39Eccles left the house with his things. An hour or so later, police arrived at his girlfriend's residence to arrest him. He was released in time to make it to his gig at the Legion.
40The next day when he was loading his equipment into his vehicle, he heard a beep. It was Ranger driving by and giving him the finger. His girlfriend was on scene as well, but she went back inside the Legion. Ranger got out of her vehicle to confront him at the back hatch of his vehicle. She tried to close it on him and his equipment. Eccles called police.
41Under cross-examination, Eccles agreed that by January 2018, things were not going well between Ranger and him. They had signed divorce papers. By March 17, 2018, he began seeing his girlfriend.
42On May 19, 2018, Eccles was irritated because of the state of the matrimonial home. He went there to try to clean it up. He was hoping to fix the washer, and get out of there. However, Ranger had started on him and his girlfriend.
43Eventually, he did shut the water off. He planned to fix it when he had more time. He had emptied the washer of water.
44When he announced his intentions to Ranger, she went into the freezer and began throwing things at him. He was able to deflect those flying objects with his hands. He was dumbfounded at Ranger's behaviour.
45Eccles tried to leave. Ranger, he maintained, prevented him. He agreed he is a large man – 6'1" and 210 pounds, but he continued to assert that Ranger was stopping him. As he put it, "She jumped in front of me swinging."
46Although Ranger punched him in the face, the ribs and the stomach; kicked him in the privates and caught him with a blow to the ear, he agreed he had no marks on his person. As well, his face looked fine.
47He readily conceded that he grabbed Ranger's arms, but that he did so in response to her pushing his speaker off the table. She did say, "Ow, you've hurt me," when he had hold of her. He maintained he was "…kicked in the nuts," but he did not say anything about it. He did not want to let on that she hurt him.
48He confirmed that he turned on his phone during the fray, but was unsure when. He made the point of mentioning meat being thrown at him after he commenced recording. Apparently, Ranger was still trying to damage his property – other speakers he had on tripods. When Alyssa came downstairs, he thought that Ranger and he were a couple of feet apart.
49He explained that Alyssa helped with packing up his speakers briefly, but then went upstairs with her mom. He got out of there.
50When it was suggested to him that if he was a victim, he ought to have called the police, his response was, "Naw…I don't call police on women 'cause they beat me."
51Eccles adopted the suggestion that he was simply defending himself. He did cause the bruise to Ranger's left inner bicep as a result. He was trying to move her out of the way and get out of there. Yet he had to collect his stuff before it was destroyed.
52He agreed readily that his use of the "C" word to describe Ranger was harsh.
Issues
53The evidence raises the following three issues:
a) If I believe Eccles, I must acquit.
b) If I do not believe Eccles, but his evidence leaves me in a state of reasonable doubt, I must acquit.
c) Even if I do not believe Eccles' evidence, nor does it raise a reasonable doubt, on the basis of the evidence I do accept, am I satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of his guilt?
Eccles' Credibility
54Clearly, Eccles was upset when he arrived at the matrimonial home on May 19, 2018. He was trying to get some rest. He did not expect to be called to assist with a malfunctioning washing machine. There was a mess to be cleaned up. It was not a pleasant chore.
55Ranger antagonized him from the moment he arrived – before even – when she asked if he could get off his whore, and sent pictures of the mess to his phone. I find Ranger very much wanted to be in Eccles' face this particular afternoon. Provocation, however, is not a defence to assault.
56I do not believe Eccles' evidence for the following reasons. Firstly, Eccles is a big man. Ranger, by comparison, is much smaller in stature. She would not be capable of preventing him from doing anything he wished, had he truly wished to avoid or retreat from the physical aggression he said she imposed upon him.
57Secondly, his evidence is inconsistent in that he wished to leave, but he had to stay to prevent damage to his property. He cannot have it both ways. Indeed, if he felt justified in restraining Ranger to protect his property, I fail to understand why he left. Ranger was upstairs calling police. He was downstairs. He was collecting his things and packing them in the vehicle. If there was a legal justification for the application of force to Ranger's person, I do not understand his decision to leave the scene. The physicality between Ranger and him had ended. Eccles gave no evidence to suggest he feared Ranger would wish to continue the fray. Staying on scene could have served to deter Ranger from damaging his property further for that matter. His decision to leave when he did is highly suspect. Four hours or more remained before he would have to perform with his band in Cobden.
58Thirdly, when Eccles began recording his altercation with Ranger, the evidence he wished to create was self-serving to the extreme. The meat he says Ranger threw at him was worthy of mention. Yet he says nothing about the kick he supposedly received to his testicles. Surely, that was the greatest violence done to him. I do not believe that his silence on that subject, at the time the recording was made had anything to do with his male pride. I find it did not happen. There was no kick.
59Fourthly, Eccles had the physicality between Ranger and him beginning with the meat being hurled at him. Ranger, on the other hand, has the fight starting with a two handed push on her chest causing her to stumble back into a freezer. Eccles never denied this push. He ignored it in his evidence. While I appreciate he represented himself, and likely has no training or education in the law, it is telling that he would not deny that he pushed Ranger, when he knew that she testified this was the starting point of their fight.
Does Eccles' Evidence Raise a Reasonable Doubt
60For the reasons given that cause me to disbelieve Eccles, they also cause me to entertain no doubt that he pushed Ranger. He had no legal justification, excuse or defence for doing so.
The Evidence I Do Accept
61Ranger was clear. Her response to the push from Eccles was to push him back. She invited the physicality thereafter. Indeed, she wanted to be "an ass." She wanted to damage his property.
62Eccles was well within his legal right to prevent her from doing mischief to his possessions. The bruise she suffered to her arm was a legitimate attempt by Eccles at restraining Ranger and preventing her from doing damage to his property.
63I do not believe Ranger when she testified that she did not agree to a physical fight with Eccles. She was asking him to bring it on. She wanted to damage items that she likely knew were valued by him – his speakers and other equipment on tripods – as a musical performer. She wanted any conjurable reason to call police and to send Eccles to jail.
64There is a reason Ranger is not afraid of Eccles, and has never been. Eccles is a good guy, but on May 19, 2018, he gave in to Ranger's barbs and taunts. He pushed her in anger and frustration.
65Accordingly, on the basis of the evidence I do accept, that Eccles pushed Ranger with both his hands, that this was the first physical act of violence between them, and that Eccles did so without Ranger's consent, I must find him guilty of assault.
Conclusion
66Having carefully reviewed the evidence, Eccles shall be found guilty of a quite minor assault.
Dated: October 23, 2018
The Honourable Mr. Justice M. March