A Yellowknife man has been acquitted of sexual assault after being tried for the same charge three times since January.
Alden Joseph Lennie, 35, was found not guilty of the offence on Friday by Justice Karan Shaner.
A jury trial for Lennie, who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman back in 2015, began on Jan. 21.
Over the next two days, he was a no-show at court, forcing Justice Andrew Mahar to declare a mistrial on Jan. 23. A warrant for Lennie's arrest was issued.
A dozen jurors were dismissed.
Lennie's lawyer, Jay Bran, conceded his client had lost his right to another judge and jury trial.
Lennie was apprehended by Yellowknife RCMP in February. He headed back to trial by judge-alone in May.
But problems persisted.
After all three of the Crown's civilian witnesses failed to show up at trial, it was adjourned. Prosecutors agreed to release Lennie ahead of the next trial.
Lennie testified in his own defence at another trial held in late July, before ultimately being found not guilty late last week.
For absconding from court, Lennie earned a failure to attend charge.
He pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 90 days time served.