Justin Jennings not guilty of assault, extortion: Witnesses not believable, says judge

A provincial court judge in St. John's is critical of witnesses in an assault and extortion trial, after finding a Paradise man not guilty of the charges.

Judge James Walsh said he finds it disturbing when someone says they will tell the "truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" and then doesn't.

Walsh made the comment Monday in handing down his decision on Justin Jennings, 31, charged after an alleged incident in a home in Paradise in July of last year.

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Three key witnesses, including the alleged victim, Eric Kirby from Torbay, testified against Jennings.

Kirby had told the court that a hot gun barrel was rammed down his throat. "The doctor said my throat looked like a cheese grater was run though it," he testified.

The judge said there was no corroborating medical evidence to support that claim. He also ruled that two women who said they were there during the incident couldn't back up allegations that Jennings had beaten, and threatened to cut off Kirby's toes, an arm and a leg, if he didn't come up with $5,000.

In fact, Walsh said none of the witnesses to the alleged incident were believable. He said one of them — a Crown witness —  was completely unreliable. During the trial, the Crown ended up treating her as a hostile witness.

Walsh said the other female witness claimed she didn't see anything and he didn't believe that.

Kirby himself could not identify Jennings, who the judge found not guilty of extortion, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and more.

But, Jennings is not out of the woods.  He was found guilty of dangerous driving and evading the police — charges laid after he tried to run away from officers when they came to arrest him, striking four police vehicles in the process.

He's also facing unrelated charges of impaired driving, refusing the breathalyzer, theft, and two more counts of evading the police.

Jennings is back in court September 6.