Editor’s note: This story has been updated on July 7, 2020. In a Feb. 23, 2019 court ruling, Justice John Rooke found there was no basis for the allegations against Jonathan Denis. The judge ruled Denis’ ex-wife Breanna Palmer “lied to the court” and there was no evidence to suggest Palmer had ever been abused by Jonathan Denis. No charges were ever laid.

We have edited the headline of this story to reflect this update.

An Alberta judge has revoked an emergency protection order granted last week to the estranged wife of a former Alberta cabinet minister, stating she is not in danger of family violence and a publication ban in the case has also been lifted.

Brenna Palmer testified Alberta’s former justice minister and solicitor-general, Jonathan Denis, was physically and emotionally abusive during their tumultuous relationship, which included him putting her in a headlock and kneeing her in the nose.

Palmer said in court last week that Denis also intimidated and threatened her throughout their relationship and he talked about controlling cops and lawyers in the province.

Judge Craig Jones revoked the EPO Monday, but did not invalidate the order as was also requested by Denis’ counsel.

During court testimony last Thursday, Palmer said she still felt unsafe.

“My family is very concerned that he would hire someone to throw acid in my face or something, I don’t know,” she said on the stand.

Denis claimed Palmer has been purposefully maligning his reputation and unlike her claims of being abusive, she was frequently angry, jealous and impatient with him and he was never violent with her.

In the case of her injured nose, Denis said it occurred when he was sleeping and when she tried to wake him up performing an intimate act, he accidentally knocked her in the face and apologized immediately.

He said he would never hurt her intentionally.

“I have never done such a thing, I would never do such a thing like that,” he said.

Denis said he still sees many good qualities in Palmer and doesn’t wish any ill will towards her, he just doesn’t want to be married to her anymore and now the two are involved in divorce proceedings.

Denis’ lawyer argued Monday morning to lift the publication ban, while Palmer’s lawyer Tasamine Davies requested the ban be adjourned so that her could client could consult with a publication expert.

After court was adjourned, Denis said he was relieved.

“It’s been a very difficult week for my family and friends but I am so thankful for all the people across the province who have contacted me,” he said. “My priority in the next 24 hours is taking the suit off and getting back to the doors and winning Calgary-Acadia,” he said.

Palmer also gave a brief statement.

“I’ll just say that I’m disappointed and I don’t have any further comments at this time,” she said.

Throughout the proceedings, Denis and Palmer painted very different pictures of each other on everything from their personalities, attitudes and how specific events unfolded:

Early relationship troubles: The two started dating in Easter of 2013 and things started to get a little rocky a few months later, but got back on track around Christmas time. Palmer said a major red flag came around a year later when the two were traveling in a car with Palmer’s brother in the backseat. Denis claimed Palmer was pestering and pushing him about moving in together. He said he at one point stopped the car, slapped the steering wheel and asked if it could be discussed later. According to Palmer, Denis was screaming and yelling at her and slamming his hand on the steering wheel.

Physical incident in spring of 2014: Palmer said Denis’ violence was completely unprovoked and happened as she was leaning in for a kiss. Denis said he accidentally kneed her when she was trying to initiate a sexual act. Both said he did apologize after it happened. Palmer did not report the incident to the police or a doctor, but said she did tell marriage counsellors, as well as close family and friends. However during last month as the couple was falling apart, she did include the alleged incident in a police report after her car was broken into twice.

Proposal: Last June, Denis proposed at the legislature building in Edmonton and said Palmer was surprised and extremely happy and said of course she would. Palmer said she wasn’t sure if she wanted to marry him and it took her a very long time to accept the proposal, but she did eventually.

Denis’ use of lithium carbonate: Palmer claimed Denis would take three pills a day to counter anger attacks at night, which was also the reason the two slept in separate rooms. Denis said he started taking the pills in 1998 to treat a mild form of depression and he hasn’t had any symptoms of the disease over the last 10 years. He also said he has never been prescribed medication for anger and suffered from acid reflux at night.

Other women: Palmer said during their honeymoon in January in Honolulu last January, at one point they were in the hot tub and Denis said he was in love with another woman and that Breanna should be more like her. He also said during the honeymoon that they were not typical newlyweds and were “completely on opposite sides of the universe.” She said he would pick fights and threaten other people during the trip and that she checked out after the experience. Denis said they were not communicating during the trip and afterwards, their relationship took a massive decline. But he said he was nothing but faithful to Palmer, despite her constantly accusing him of cheating on her with other women and even men sometimes. “If we were at an event and I spoke to a woman or man, she would get super jealous, accusing me of cheating.”

Fits of rage: Palmer said she often saw fits of rage and anger from Denis, including him coming home one night and ripping a television cord out of a wall, as well as a toilet seat. Denis said he came home tired after a long day of campaigning and that Palmer was not even paying attention to the television and turned it off. He said he went upstairs to go to bed but the television was still on, so he went back downstairs and took the HDMI cable out of the wall, but didn’t rip it.

April 11-13: Palmer said the television incident happened on the evening of April 11th and it prompted her to call her friends Margot Anderson and her husband David Goerzen. They came over to the home to make sure that she was okay and testified they heard loud stomping upstairs and a door being slammed shut. Palmer said she eventually told the pair she felt safe and they could leave. Denis said Palmer came upstairs and asked her to come down because there were some people here to see him, but she didn’t say who and he declined and she left. He said he didn’t feel safe in the home, so he left voluntarily to stay with his mother.

The next day Goerzen and Anderson came by to help her move out of the home. As they were packing up a U-Haul, Palmer, Goerzen and Anderson claimed Denis was extremely angry and approached waving his arms and said that he was calling the police and told Goerzen to get off his property. Anderson said she also called the police but recalled Palmer telling her that Denis claimed to ‘own the police’ so when officers arrived, she asked whose call they were responding to, which was hers. While holding the garage door, Goerzen said that Denis said he was going to charge him with property damage. Denis said it was a very mild argument and told him to please let go and get off his property. He said if he didn’t, he would call the police, however he claimed he never did call cops that night.

On April 13th, the trio returned to the home again to retrieve more of Palmer’s belongings, along with a request by Palmer for police called a domestic standby. Palmer claimed Denis’ mother, Marguerite Denis, showed up, went inside and locked the door behind her and said ‘you’re being such a b***h.” This is also the reason Denis’ mother also appears on the EPO application, over a charge of confinement to a room. But Denis’ lawyer, Jeff Wise, decided not to bring Marguerite as a witness, claiming a severe lack of evidence and need to do so. Police testimony did confirm that verbal statement was made, but also that no physical altercation and the two didn’t have to be separated at any time.

Car troubles: After Palmer had moved into a new place, her car was broken into on April 19th and then again two nights later. She said she felt targeted and it seemed unusual this would happen twice. As she reported the incidents to police, this was the first time she told any law enforcement about alleged violence and abuse from Denis. Damage to her car included smashes windows, personal documents stolen and issues with her brakes and clutch. Denis said he had no knowledge of where she was living after she moved out and he had no part in what happened to her car. He said during his testimony, “I’m kind of a nerd, I don’t know how to do things like that.”

Palmer also claimed Denis made many threats to her such as “I can have you followed, I control everybody” and that he can “get somebody else to do my dirty work.” She also said she had trouble accessing legal aid, even though when she first went to court, she was told she would have no problem getting a lawyer. She also said she was sprung with a prenuptial agreement two days before their wedding on October 9th, they slept in separate rooms because of Denis’ violent attacks and that other PC members, as well as Denis’ friends, threatened and intimated her.

“I was trying to find help at the same ministry he heads,” he said.

Denis said there have been never been threats or intimidation and he suffers sometimes from acid reflux at night. He also said this damage to his reputation has been severe, including losing his cabinet post and the $65,000 which goes with that position.

“The last week has been the worst week of my life,” Denis said on the stand.

Palmer was asked after her brief statement what her next move was, but she simply said she had no further comments.