A man has been found not guilty of punching a drunken man nearly three years after his trial and five years after the alleged assault.
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Joseph Michael Shevlin, 25, was accused of punching the man during a drunken night at the Holy Grail in Kingston in August 2008.
The matter went to trial before Justice Richard Refshauge in 2010, two years after the altercation.
Justice Refshauge reserved his judgment and delivered it on Friday.
The victim was left with short-term memory loss, vertigo, and permanent migraine-like headaches. He required surgery to relieve pressure from a haematoma, and had plates inserted in his head.
Mr Shevlin had maintained his innocence, saying he punched the man in self-defence, fearing the man was going to attack him.
Justice Refshauge cleared Mr Shevlin, saying he could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt he was not acting in self-defence.
“I have carefully scrutinised the evidence and have carefully reviewed my contemporaneous notes,” Justice Refshauge said.
“I have, as I have noted, looked a number of times at the CCTV recording and compared it with the transcript of the evidence of the witnesses. I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the Crown has shown that Mr Shevlin was not acting in self-defence when he punched [the victim].”
