Witness says defendant targeted almost as soon as he took to the field

Josh Gauthier testified Tuesday that he was pushed twice from behind by an opposing player when they were chasing the ball during a men's recreational league soccer game

"I was hit harder than I've ever been in soccer, even in any other sport, even football," he said when he took the witness stand during the second day of his trial.

The 39-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault in connection with a July 8, 2019 incident that occurred at Strathclair Field.

Gauthier, who is accused of striking Adam Erickson in the face, described what occurred as a reflex action.

He fell forward after the second push, took two steps and "in a blink of an eye, in a couple of seconds it was done," he told his lawyer Don Orazietti.

"I was in absolute shock. I couldn't believe or imagine what had just happened," he said, insisting he "absolutely had no intention of hurting anyone that day."

Gauthier, who played for the BDO team, arrived late for their match against Jiggerz.

He said when he subbed into the game there was "a lot of discontent" among the Jiggerz players, who were "loud and very aggressive," upset and yelling at the referee.

The incident with Erickson occurred about 10 minutes after Gauthier got on the field as his opponent was trying to take the ball from him.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Matthew Caputo asked about his football background - the sport Gauthier said he loved and had played for years, including in a semi-pro league in southern Ontario.

The assistant Crown attorney suggested that as a running back he must have been hit quite a bit on the football field.

Gauthier agreed, the hits are harder and there are more of them in that game, but the players wear pads and "95 per cent of the time you see the hits coming," he said.

At the time of the incident, Gauthier indicated he weighed 200 to 210 pounds and agreed he had about 60 pounds on Erickson.

When asked if the Jiggerz team was "overly dirty," Gauthier replied "absolutely, they would do anything to get an advantage.

"They would do anything to bend the rules in my opinion."

Gauthier said after he was hit he turned quickly to look at his attacker and to protect himself and he collided with Erickson's face.

"I do not believe I had a fist at the time. It happened so fast and he was close to me......I was in absolute shock. I thought I had poked him in the eye."

He insisted that he had "no intention to want to do that to another athlete."

On Tuesday, Superior Court Justice Edward Gareau also heard from three BDO members, who testified that their team was never really competitive and played for fun and exercise, 

The defence witnesses described the Jiggerz players as younger and really competive - a very tough, aggressive and physical team.

"The guys are out to win. They intimidate and go in hard,"  said Steve McLeod, who was on the bench that night because of an injury.

It seemed Gauthier, one of his team's top players, was targetted almost as soon as he took the field, he told the court.

"They really wanted to win. They went after our best player and it didn't turn out well."

When Erickson was chasing Gauthier, who was shielding the ball, he was kicking the back of his opponent's legs and then gave Gauthier "a pretty good back shove" with both of his hands.

Erickson was directly behind him, Gauthier twisted around, took a swing and "more or less punched him," McLeod said. "It happened really quickly."

BDO's goal keeper Mike Smith said he remembers Erickson making comments when he was battling Gauthier for the ball.

"It's more the tone I remember than the words," he said. "I thought he was trying to get Josh off his game."

Erickson was kicking Gauthier's legs and ankles trying to get the ball, then he gave Gauthier a two-handed push "hard enough that Josh bent over at the waist."

Smith said Gauthier then took a step, and turned to face Erickson who stopped and "puffed his chest out."

Gauthier struck him once in the face. "It was very quick, took two to three seconds."

The court also heard from Frank Gioia who was playing defence for BDO.

Gauthier was one of the team's premier players, he said. " He was pegged. They (Jiggerz) were going after him."

Erickson "came hard" at Gauthier, jolting him with a push - conduct Gioia said he thought deserved a yellow card.

"It absolutely was a foul and should have been called."

When Erickson shoved him a second time, Gauthier "turned around and socked him," Gioia said.

The defence witnesses were critical of the officiating that night.

Before the incident the play was getting contentious, aggressive and "chippy," they told Gareau.

The temperature was getting higher and higher, and nothing was done to keep the game under control, they said.

Before Orazietti put his witnesses on the stand, the Crown had closed its case that morning after hearing evidence from Mike Bruno, who refereed the game.

Bruno, who has been officiating for 42 years, described the game as "very competitive" but not aggressive.

Gauthier had control of the ball, and an opponent was behind him challenging for the ball.

"There was minor contact, but there was nothing for me to stop the game for any infraction," he told Caputo.

All of a sudden Gauthier turned around and punched Erickson with a closed fist, Bruno said, indicating he was 10 metres away from the two players.

He said when he approached Erickson he could see that he had been struck in the eye.

During cross-examination by Orazietti, he denied that he had let the game get out of control.

Bruno said he didn't hear any verbal exchanges or profanities between the two players or see any kicking.

There was minimal pushing, with the players leaning into each other, he said.

The trial resumes Thursday.