A B.C. Supreme Court Justice is being asked to decide whether a man on trial for a stabbing in a Prince George apartment block was the actual perpetrator or a victim of mistaken identity.
Brandon Rommann, 26, was stabbed several times during the evening of April 23, 2011 and Johnathon Riely Nicholls, 23, is accused of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in the attack.
In giving testimony, Rommann said Nicholls showed up sometime after 6 p.m. They smoked marijuana and talked about reptiles for about 45 minutes to an hour. Then Nicholls said he forgot his wallet at a restaurant and Rommann offered him a ride because he had to go out anyway.
Romann said he grabbed his keys, went towards the door and started put his shoes on when Nicholls put him in a bear hug from behind. He felt a hit to the side of his head and two to his back below his shoulder.
"Then I turned around, fell to the ground and he was on top of me," Romann said.
Romann said he tried to push Nicholls off him, but found he was too big and powerful, "and when that didn't work, I just resorted to asking him what was going on, what he wanted."
By that point, said Rommann, Nicholls was straddling his torso and his right hand was up holding a hunting knife with a three-inch blade. Nicholls' expression was initially one of rage, then hesitation, then back to rage, the court was told.
"It looked like he was going to continue on," Rommann said, but then Nicholls' expression changed again to one of "remorse, acknowledgment of what he did, I guess."
Within about 15 seconds of the attack's start Nicholls relented, got up and let Rommann get up and then offered Rommann money to not tell anyone what happened, the court heard.
Rommann said he got out of his apartment and hurried towards his manager's suite with Nicholls following behind. Rommann said he told Nicholls he would not say anything "just to get him out of there" and told him to "just go."
Within about 15 minutes of knocking loudly on the manager's door, Rommann was at the emergency room at the hospital where he was treated for several stab wounds to his upper body. An RCMP member soon showed up, the court heard, and Rommann identified Nicholls as the attacker and gave the officer the key to his apartment where he went to take photographs.
Nicholls gave a decidedly different story when he took the stand.
He maintained Rommann was actually a dealer and he had shown up at Rommann's at about 3 p.m. that day to buy an eighth-ounce of marijuana and had smoked a joint to test its quality.
When Rommann refused to accept a cheque rather than cash and declined to allow him to pay later, Nicholls said he left.
Nicholls said he then walked to a car wash to pick up his paycheque and then his mother drove him to a restaurant where he bought food for his son, fiance and himself and was then driven home before she left for work.
At about 9 p.m., the RCMP showed up with guns drawn, Nicholls said.
"I wasn't there," Nicholls said when asked what he had to say about Rommann's testimony.
Justice John Savage reserved decision until this morning.
