Crown wraps up case in Calgary police assault trial

There is going to be a two and a half month wait before we learn what’s next in the assault trial involving three Calgary police officers.

The Crown wrapped up its case Thursday after calling Constable D’Arcy Oakes to the stand, who witnessed the 2016 arrest of Clayton Prince.

ASIRT moved ahead with charges against Mike Sandalack, James Othen and Kevin Humfrey after their version of events appeared to contradict the dashcam video.

Prince was sent to hospital and later diagnosed with a collapsed lung and broken ribs following his arrest.

Oakes says he watched events unfold and heard Prince being yelled at to stop resisting and to put up his hands.

He described seeing the officers hit him with their knees and fists while on the ground. He was then led to the back of a police vehicle.

The constable said Prince didn’t appear to be resisting arrest and that the officers shouldn’t have had any trouble handcuffing him.

He also admitted to inadvertently turning the dash camera off in the middle of the ordeal. He said adrenaline had kicked in and he had been reaching for the siren and lights and that it was not his intention to turn the camera off.

The officer in charge of dash cameras for the C.P.S. fleet, Christopher Goyetche, also testified and revealed officers who sign onto the CAD system have the ability to review their video.

He said there are at least three ways to turn off the feed and explained that it was very difficult for it to fail altogether.

Alain Heppner is one of the defence lawyers, he told reporters one day for three cases was not long enough to present their arguments.

“It is stressful for everybody, especially police officers,” he said.

The defence has been granted four days in the fall. The trial resumes November 6, 2017.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today