Judge rejects testimony of personal injury lawyer who was beaten up, says he was laying groundwork for lawsuit

A judge has rejected much of the testimony by a local lawyer who was beaten up two years ago after a bizarre series of events at the 2016 Sudbury District Law Association Law Ball.

The case revolved around a fight that broke out at the Nov. 20, 2016, event between lawyer Spencer Ball and engineer Justin Jim, who was at the event with his wife, lawyer Danielle Vincent.

Justice Peter C. West of the Ontario Court of Justice was tasked with determining whether the altercation was an unprovoked assault, or whether Ball and Jim had both consented to the fight.

Ball, a personal injury lawyer, insisted it was unprovoked, that Jim “sucker punched” him out of the blue. He also insisted he wasn't drunk the night of the event, and initially told police he didn't know who had attacked him.

“The police did not follow the ambulance in order to take a statement from Mr. Ball at the hospital, nor did they wait until after his release from hospital to bring him to the police station to provide a video-taped statement,” the court transcript says.

Police attempted to talk to the 25-35 people still in attendance at the Hellenic Centre, where the ball was held, but were frustrated no one would say who was involved or what happened.

“I accept the police evidence respecting the lack of co-operation by those who were still present when the police arrived,” the judge wrote. “Further, the most important piece of information in the police investigation was who the other individual was who caused the injury to Mr. Ball, yet no one told them, including Mr. Ball.”

Police also had trouble contacting Ball after the incident, and had to contact a friend, lawyer Sophie Mageau, to confirm they had the right cellphone number, which they did. But when he was testifying, Ball said he was the one who called police, and said police must have had the wrong cellphone number.

When confronted with proof that wasn't true, the judge writes Ball “changed his evidence to say he had called the police station on Nov. 21, but the officers were not available so he left a message and they called him back.

“This was the first time Mr. Ball had ever indicated the officers were not available to take his call and he left a message ... I find Mr. Ball’s evidence on a relatively simple, non-controversial issue was evasive and it demonstrated in my view Mr. Ball was making things up as he went along.”

And while Ball told police on the scene that he didn't know who attacked him, a few hours later while in hospital, he sent Vincent a message on Linkedin that said, “Your husband is going to jail.”

West also pointed out a number of other problems with Ball's testimony, describing it as evasive and self-serving, seemingly aimed at helping laying the groundwork for his plan to sue Jim, the Hellenic Centre where the Law Ball was held, as well as the Sudbury District Law Association.

For example, when Ball was asked whether he knew a guilty plea would help his civil suit, he said he didn't know, even though he's a personal injury lawyer, something the judge found hard to believe.

However, the judge largely accepted Jim's testimony, which he said provided a credible scenario for what happened that night. Jim testified that he knew Ball only casually, since Ball was an acquaintance of his wife. The night of the event, he said he and Ball were “chirping” each other on the dance floor after Ball made fun of Jim for having ripped his pants while dancing.

“Mr. Ball said something to the effect he was an idiot or he looked like a jackass,” the transcript says. “Mr. Jim testified he responded with, 'At least I can dance.'”

Later in the evening, Jim testified that Ball came over to the table where he and Vincent were sitting and suddenly said to his wife, 'I’ve always wanted to date you. I’ve always been into you.'

When Jim stood up and pushed Ball, Ball said something to the effect that Vincent was too good for Jim. Ball left at that point, and the transcript says both Jim and Vincent “agreed that Ball was a douche.”

That's when things got ugly. A short time after that incident, a very drunk Jim saw a very drunk Ball dancing with a woman, who was there with her husband. Jim testified he saw Ball groping her, “putting his fingers between her buttocks.”

He confronted Ball about his behaviour, calling him “a f—cking creep.” Ball told him to mind his own business and pushed him. Jim pushed back, and in his mind, the fight was on. While Ball has a black belt in Karate, Jim testified that this was the first fist fight of his entire life.

“It was Mr. Jim’s position that the whole incident happened very fast,” the judge wrote. “Mr. Jim was not sure of the number of times he punched Mr. Ball on the ground because of his intoxication and the quickness of the whole incident.”

The judge accepted Jim's testimony, because many of his statements were against his own interests, because it laid out a believable narrative to explain what happened, and other witnesses backed up Jim's testimony.

For example, lawyer Sarah Waltenbury testified she saw Ball putting his hands on the woman's buttocks while they danced earlier in the evening.

“She described Mr. Ball and the woman as dancing very close and she was shocked by the conduct, as it was inappropriate for someone who was married,” the transcript says. “The interaction made her uncomfortable.

“In my view, Mr. Jim’s description of the sequence of events, which demonstrated an escalation of animosity and anger between the two men and on Mr. Jim’s evidence culminated in a consensual fight, accords with human experience and common sense.”

Under Canadian law, two people can legally consent to a fist fight, as long as neither have the intent to do serious harm to the other, which the judge said was the situation here.

“Mr. Jim’s evidence, which I have accepted, was he did not intend to cause Mr. Ball serious bodily injury,” the judge wrote. “He testified he was not aware until after the physical altercation was over that Mr. Ball had been hurt, which I also accept.”

While finding Jim not guilty, the judge also had harsh words for Greater Sudbury Police, whose officers seemed to have a difficult time investigating a case involving so many lawyers.

“It is my view the police investigation left much to be desired and in many ways was a dereliction of their responsibility to conduct an independent and impartial investigation,” the judge wrote. “The police did not even take down the individuals' names and contact information who were still present at the Hellenic Centre when they first arrived.”

Read the full transcript here.