A man accused of a home invasion was cleared of charges of burglary, armed robbery and causing grievous harm on Wednesday.
Acting Justice Wayne Munroe directed the nine-member jury to acquit Teko Burrows after he upheld a no case submission by defense lawyer Alex Dorsett.
Burrows was accused of viciously beating Patricia Minus-Swaby as she slept on the living room sofa of her Infant View Road home on June 22, 2010.
Minus-Swaby is still suffering the ill effects of the attack, as the sight in her left eye has weakened.
She tried to prevent the attack by screaming to alert her sons. Her son Omar Butler, who works for the U.S. Air Force, said he responded to his mother's screams and got into a "fierce struggle" with the intruder. Butler said a glass table top and chinaware were broken during the fight with the man, whom he claimed he recognized from earlier that night. Butler said he observed the man, who was sitting on the wall of his mother's home, after he returned from a graduation ceremony. As a member of the U.S. Air Force, Butler said, "We are trained to recognize the out of ordinary, the suspicious. It can boil down to a life-and-death situation."
Butler said he disarmed one intruder before another emerged holding his brother at gunpoint. Butler also said he chased the intruders until he lost sight of them as they escaped through a yard on Tyler Street.
Butler identified the defendant as the intruder in a photo line-up. Before viewing the line-up, he met with a police sketch artist.
Prosecutors did not present the composite sketch during the trial.
Anthony Delaney and Desiree Ferguson appeared for the Crown.

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