No charges against Kenora OPP officer for punching man after

When police officers are involved in incidents where someone has been seriously injured, dies or alleges sexual assault, the Special Investigations Unit has the statutory mandate to conduct independent investigations to determine whether a criminal offence took place.

No charges against Kenora OPP officer for punching man after

Postby Thomas » Tue Jun 29, 2021 6:19 pm

No charges against Kenora OPP officer for punching man after being spit on

The incident took place in May 2020 when an OPP officer in Kenora punched an intoxicated individual after being spit on during an arrest.

KENORA, Ont. - The Special Investigations Unit director said the actions of a Kenora Ontario Provincial Police officer were not unlawful when he punched an intoxicated man in the face after he spit on him during an arrest.

The SIU was first notified by the OPP on Feb. 9, 2021 of an injury sustained by the 26-year-old Complainant from an arrest the previous spring after the Complainant’s girlfriend advised the OPP that he had undergone facial reconstructive surgery.

According to a report released on Friday by Joseph Martino, director of the SIU, the incident took place on the afternoon of May 16, 2020.

The Subject Officer and first Witness Officer were patrolling in a cruiser in the Chipman Street area in Kenora when they were approached by the Complainant who was intoxicated at the time and accused the officers of harassing him and his friends who were gathered near a business.

The Complainant was placed under arrest when he refused to identify himself to the officers. The Subject Officer was standing in front of the Complainant while the Witness Officer was behind asking him to put his hands behind his back.

The Complainant bent forward and spit on the Subject Officer’s face, who responded by punching the Complainant. The Witness Officer then pulled the Complainant to the ground and he was transported to the detachment.

Following the Complainant’s release from custody the next morning, he attended the Lake of the Woods District Hospital on May 22 where it was determined he suffered a severe comminuted fracture of the left maxillary sinus. The Complainant told hospital staff at the time that the injury was the result of a skateboarding accident.

As part of Martino’s investigation, four witness officers were interviewed, as well as one civilian witness and the Complainant. The Subject Officer declined to be interviewed, which is a legal right.

Video surveillance, photographs, and audio recordings were also provided as evidence, including a conversation between the Subject Officer and the OPP communications centre following the arrest.

“The communications centre remarked that the Subject Officer sounded angry and the Subject Officer replied he had just dealt with a winner [now determined to be the Complainant],” Martino writes in his report.

“The Subject Officer advised the Complainant had spat in his face and the Complainant did not like what happened after that. The communications centre responded, ‘Oh.’”

The communications centre asked if the subject officer was concerned about COVID-19 and he said he had no idea and hoped that wasn’t the case, adding he was wearing sunglasses and did not get any spit in his mouth.

Based on the evidence, Martino said: “there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the Subject Officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the Complainant’s arrest and injury.”

Martino referred to Section 25(1) of the Criminal Code that states police officers are immune from criminal liability for use of force in the course of their duties as long as the use of force is reasonably necessary.

“I am not satisfied that the force used by the Subject Officer, namely, a punch to the Complainant’s face, was excessive. The officer had just been spat on by a belligerent individual and reacted, I am satisfied, to prevent any further assault on his person,” Martino writes.

“While there may have been other options available short of a strike to the face, I am unable to reasonably conclude that a single punch, delivered to that part of the body used in the assault, fell outside of what was permissible in the circumstances to deter any further aggression and secure the Complainant into custody.”

Martino added that the takedown of the Complainant also did not constitute unlawful force by the Subject Officer.

“The Subject Officer had just been spat on and it was reasonable in the circumstances to want to place him in a position of disadvantage in order to complete the handcuffing process without further incident,” he wrote.

https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/ ... on-3908075
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