Charges against former Hab withdrawn

Source : Montrealgazette.com

Assault charges laid more than two years ago against former Canadiens captain Vincent Damphousse were withdrawn Tuesday in Quebec Court.

Damphousse, 45, was subsequently acquitted.

The prosecution re-evaluated all of its evidence and decided to withdraw the charges, Crown prosecutor Sylvie Dulude told the court.

Damphousse had pleaded not guilty in 2011 to six charges alleging he assaulted his estranged wife, Allana Henderson, at different times between Jan. 1, 2008, and March 29, 2011.

Henderson was also charged in April 2011 with assaulting Damphousse. She faces charges alleging she stole an accordion file folder from Damphousse as well as assault with a weapon while driving a vehicle. (The alleged weapon being the vehicle)

She also pleaded not guilty.

The two charges against Henderson are still pending. A trial date for Henderson’s case was set on Tuesday for January 2015.

Damphousse, who appears as a panellist on the popular sports talk show L’antichambre on RDS, declined to speak to journalists following his acquittal after he left the Montreal courtroom.

 Carolyne Paquin, the crown prosecutor in Henderson’s case, said outside the courtroom the two cases have always been evaluated separately by prosecutors despite the fact that the two events intersected. For their part, Paquin said, they’ve never considered withdrawing the charges against Henderson.

Henderson’s lawyer Vincent Rose told reporters outside the courtroom that his client was very disappointed with the prosecution’s decision. Rose objected to the withdrawal of the charges against Damphousse, wanting Judge Sylvie Durand to postpone her decision to acquit.
“
I suggested that in this case the decision to withdraw (the charges) is reviewable and unfounded,” he said.

Rose said he is looking at the recourse that might be available to his client for possibly challenging the judge’s decision.

He also noted the Crown prosecutor decided in Henderson’s case to submit it to a judge to allow him or her to decide on innocence or guilt. “And we’re asking but why wasn’t the same thing done” with 
Damphousse, he said.

Damphousse played 18 seasons in the NHL. He was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round — 6th overall — of the 1986 NHL draft. Damphousse spent five seasons with the Leafs before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers, where he played for one season. He was with the Habs for seven seasons starting in 1992-93 when he put up 97 points and was part of the Canadiens’ last Stanley Cup victory. His final season in the NHL was in 2003-04 with the San Jose Sharks.