Man acquitted of assaulting prison officer with hot cup of coffee

Officer’s argumentative testimony made it impossible to determine whether Omar Mohammed intended to assault her, judge rules

After spending the first day of his trial lying on the floor in protest, Omar Mohammed sat quietly in the courtroom for the last day of proceedings Tuesday, Nov. 30, leaving with acquittals on some of his charges.

Mohammed, 36, will remain in custody until he returns to provincial court in St. John’s for a second trial in February.

“It’s a long wait. They are using me,“Mohammed told lawyer Peter Ralph before being escorted from the room by sheriffs.

Ralph served as amicus in Mohammed’s matters, given he had declined defence counsel.

Mohammed had been facing 13 charges, laid at different times between July 2020, when he was charged with assaulting two police officers with a knife and other weapons offences, and April of this year, when he was accused of assaulting a correctional officer at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary by throwing a cup of hot coffee at her. He has been in custody since February, when he was charged with sexually assaulting a woman and was denied bail.

Mohammed has repeatedly insisted in court that he has never been arrested or charged with assaulting officers, accusing police and the court of lying. He has told the court many times he isn’t interested in speaking with any defence lawyers, but appeared to change his mind when his sexual assault trial was set to begin last week, asking for lawyer Joan Dawson. Dawson will represent him when that trial takes place, but Mohammed had no legal representation as his trial for the other matters took place.

Telling Judge James Walsh, “I don’t believe your law,” Mohammed attended the first day of trial last Thursday by video from a separate room at provincial court, protesting the proceedings by lying face down on the floor and refusing to watch them.

The court heard from Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers, who said they had attended a home on Long’s Hill in July 2020 in response to a call for assistance and were met by a tenant who told them he had let Mohammed stay with him for a couple of nights but wanted him out. The two officers said they found Mohammed inside the apartment and he yelled at them to shut up and get out. They described drawing their guns when Mohammed moved toward them and pulled a knife out of his waistband, pointing it at them briefly and refusing to drop it until another officer showed up with a taser. Upon his arrest, Mohammed indicated he had another knife in his waistband, the officers testified.

Walsh has reserved his decision on those charges and will address them alongside the sexual assault allegation. Prosecutor Alana Dwyer withdrew some of Mohammed’s alleged court order breaches this week and Walsh acquitted him of other offences, including the assault on the HMP officer, who was argumentative with Dwyer and Ralph when she testified Tuesday. As a result, the court was unable to determine whether Mohammed had intentionally thrown the coffee at her.

“The witness’s attitude as the question of intent was trying to be explored — and she was argumentative with Crown counsel and the amicus — is problematic in assessing credibility,” Walsh said, adding the testimony of a second witness hadn’t helped. “I’m left with reasonable doubt.”