A Supreme Court judge praised a jury for its conscientiousness after it returned its verdict in the trial of a man accused of a violent assault on a woman.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After nearly two hours of deliberation, the jury found Thomas James Aliano, 41, guilty of two counts of assaulting Joellie Tuthill, 27, and not guilty of a further two counts.
Justice Robert Pearce thanked the jury for its service to the community.
"It is obvious to me that you have been a conscientious jury and that you have applied yourselves assiduously to the task," he said.
Aliano, wearing a mask, showed little emotion as the verdicts were communicated.
Aliano was a guest in Ms Tuthill's home after becoming homeless on February 24 last year.
He was found guilty of grabbing her around the throat and biting her on the nose after an argument escalated over an electrical extension cord.
Ms Tuthill gave evidence that he squeezed extremely hard and caused her to almost lose consciousness.
He abused her and told her to die. He told her not to call police or he would skin her alive and kill her family.
He was also found guilty of assault by grabbing her by the throat and wielding a butter knife.
Aliano, who was defended by Fran McCracken, was found not guilty by the jury of a third count when it was alleged she went to her bedroom and Mr Aliano came in and grabbed her by the hair and pushed a tri-pillow into her face.
He was also found not guilty of the fourth count when it was alleged that Aliano brought a towel into the bedroom and roughly wiped Ms Tuthill's face telling her to get cleaned up.
The jury heard evidence from Detective-Constable Sarah Campbell that police never located a towel and that the tri-pillow had no discernible blood stains.
Ms McCracken said that Aliano had quite a bit of time up his sleeve after being remanded in custody on the charges for about a year.
Crown prosecutor Claire Darvell said prosecution and Ms McCracken were negotiating over a separate charge that Aliano was facing.
Justice Pearce adjourned the case for sentencing on April 26, at 4.15pm.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner