BY KEITH LACEY
After a one-week trial, a Sudbury apparently believed a Capreol man who testified he acted in self-defence and only used an axe to ward off a man who was attacking him.
Richard Petit, 50, was found not guilty late Monday afternoon after four hours of deliberations by the eight-man, four-woman jury of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.
While he was found not guilty of the two most serious charges, the jury did find Petit guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon (the axe) and guilty of breaching two court orders, including one where he was not to be in possession of any prohibited weapon or firearm.
Petit will be sentenced for those charges in April.
Petit, who was facing a lengthy jail sentence, perhaps including penitentiary time, was charged after striking another man with an axe and sending him to hospital with serious injuries.
Petit testified the complainant, Christian Lariviere, assaulted him and lied about being a Greater Sudbury Police officer and member of the Hell's Angels outlaw motorcycle gang.
Petit, also testified he never meant to hit Lariviere with an axe he carried in his van and used it only after Lariviere assaulted him after stopping his van and accusing Petit of being the person responsible for a series of cottage break and enters behind Capreol last April 11.
Lariviere testified he did confront Petit by stopping his truck in front of Petit's van and accusing him of being responsible for breaking into his father's cottage behind Capreol.
Petit swore at him, reached inside his van and struck him during an unprovoked attack, hitting him once in the stomach with the axe, causing a deep wound, said Lariviere.
Petit gave a much different version of events to the jury .
Petit agreed Lariviere who pulled in front of his vehicle on Moose Mountain Mine Road near Capreol and accused him of breaking into numerous cottages, including his father's.
However, it was Lariviere who initiated the violence by reaching inside his van and punching him in the head, said Petit.
He was shocked and surprised at what was going on and told Lariviere to leave him alone before exiting his vehicle, he said.
He got outside his van and Lariviere continued to make accusations and threaten him and demand to be able to continue to look inside the vehicle, said Petit.
He warned Lariviere to get away from him and leave him alone and told him he had no right to look inside his van, said Petit.
Eventually, Petit told him he was a police officer with the Greater Sudbury Police and he was going to look inside the van even if he didn't like it, said Petit.
He quickly changed his story admitting he wasn't a police officer, but made up another story about being a member of the Hell's Angels and told him the motorcycle gang had purchased some property in the area and he was looking inside the van whether he liked it or not, said Petit.
When Lariviere again showed signs of aggression and raised his hands and started coming towards him, he grabbed an axe from inside his van and swang it in an arc to ?try and keep some distance? between himself and Lariviere, said Petit.
He didn't know at the time that he had struck Lariviere with the axe blade, he testified.
The incident ended with Lariviere heading to his truck and driving up the road, he said.
He had proceeded in the opposite direction when he noticed another car pull up to Lariviere's car and Lariviere got inside the car after talking to a married couple, he said.
The trial has already heard the couple offered to give Lariviere a ride to hospital after noticing he was bleeding profusely.
Petit testified he turned his van around and approached the couple and told them Lariviere had no right to keep insisting he wanted to look inside his van.
Assistant Crown attorney Roberta Bald told the jury Petit reacted violently moments after Lariviere approached him and it was only Petit who used violence the day in question.
Petit insisted his testimony is an accurate depiction of what happened and he only tried to defend himself from being assaulted for a second time when he swung the axe towards Lariviere.
Petit's lawyer Glenn Sandberg said his client ?is delighted? with the verdict.
?He was looking potentially at a penitentiary term if things had gone badly,? he said.
The Crown will be seeking a jail term on the weapons conviction during sentencing, but Sandberg said he is confident his client will be given a conditional sentence or probation.
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