Dangerous offender retried for savage Edmonton beating

One of Edmonton's most notorious career criminals who fought all the way to the Supreme Court for a retrial fell asleep on the first day of his new hearing.

Leo Teskey, 37,is charged with aggravated assault for attacking apartment manager Dougald Miller in 2000.

The Supreme Court of Canada ordered a retrial for Teskey earlier this year, after ruling the original trial judge took too long to issue his written reasons for convicting Teskey in the attack.

The high court ruling also set aside the 2005 decision designating Teskey a dangerous offender and jailing him indefinitely.

Teskeyhad beenfound guilty of beatingMiller so badly he was left brain-damaged and paralyzed from the neck down. One ofhis ears was torn off and had to be reattached.

Miller was trying to escort Teskey out of the building where he was sleeping in the hallway.

On Monday, a letter carrier who found Miller half-naked in a pool of bloodtestified he could not recognize the victim, even though he had known Miller for more than a decade.

'There was blood on the wall above him. It was running down the stairs beneath him.' —Brian Sorensen, letter carrier

"I'll never forget walking in that front door," Brian Sorensen told the judge.

"There was blood on the wall above him.It was running down the stairs beneath him."

At one point in the afternoon, a court sheriff approached Teskey in the prisoner's box and whispered, "Open up your eyes and pay attention," as the defendant appeared to drift off.

Teskey has a history of 34 convictions, including assaulting a two-year-old boy and shooting a police officer in the head.

Victim's wife to testify

Miller's wife, Lesley, who is scheduled to testify on Wednesday, is steeling herself for another round with the justice system.

"I couldn't even explain to you how I feel," she said, sitting by her husband's bedside in the nursing home wherehe now lives, hooked up to machines that keep him alive. He can only communicate by blinking.

"There's a whole turmoil of feelings — anger, resentment. The justice system, it's just, it's getting on my nerves."

Crown's case based on circumstantial evidence

Alberta provincial court Judge Brad Kerby who presided over the 2002 assault trial was relatively inexperienced, especially in criminal law, taking 11 months to issue his reasons.

The retrial is being overseen by Associate Chief Judge Eric Peterson, who has been a judge for 14 years and graduated from law school 30 years ago.

"I mean, this is more high-profile than others," said Sanjeev Anand, a law professor at the University of Alberta. "For that reason, they want to make sure the judge that deals with it has the time to deal with it properly."

The case will be difficult for the Crown to reprove, Anand said.

"There is no eyewitness evidence here. There are no eyewitnesses that saw Teskey attack the victim in this case. What the Crown is relying on is circumstantial evidence."

Teskey's trial is scheduled until Friday.