Another shocking act of police misconduct and brutality.

[rafterman]

From today's Globe & Mail.

These thugs should all be serving hard time for aggravated assault.

All are complete P'sOS.

Officers must pay for 'act of reprisal' July 1, 2009 By KIRK MAKIN
JUSTICE REPORTER

An Ontario Superior Court judge has ordered five police officers to pay $50,000 to a Niagara Falls man for dragging him from his car, repeatedly beating and tasering him, and then wrongly imprisoning him for five days.

Mr. Justice C.R. Harris included a rare punitive damages award of $20,000, saying that each of the Niagara Regional Police officers "decided to flout the law for their own purposes. The actions of the officers in this case are very troubling an offence and, I suspect, would deeply sadden and shock the community in which they were perpetrated."

Judge Harris said that concocted testimony from the officers carried an odour of conspiracy, and that their real motive in assaulting Michael Allan Parsons was "an act of reprisal" against a local rounder whom they disliked and believed had insulted them.

"I am persuaded that their testimony was at times self-serving, often equivocal and unclear, and in some instances, pure fiction," Judge Harris said. "Their testimony also struck me as being too pure and sanitized."

The attack took place around 10 p.m. one December evening several years ago on a rural road near Fort Erie, Ont. Judge Harris found that Mr. Parsons yelled, "Hey, baby," at one of the officers as he and his fiancée, Terri Lynn Ryckman, drove by a group of police.

Judge Harris said that the officers, Michael Woodfine, Dino Cirillo, Todd Priddle, James Tallevi and Darren Forbes, lied in claiming that Mr. Parsons hurled profanity at them and hung halfway out the window of his car.

In testimony at his trial on charges of assault and resisting arrest, Mr. Parsons described being pulled from the jeep in a chokehold, and having his hands handcuffed behind his back while the officers administered 15 taser shocks to his legs, scrotum, throat, back and buttocks.

"It felt like fire," he testified. "It felt like it made my whole body convulse and jump. ... It just burned. ... Your whole body just jumps when it hits you. It's excruciating.

"I was in terror," Mr. Parsons said. "I feared for my life afterwards because of what they had done to me. ... I feel that I could have died that day on the side of that road. I'm still scared to this day."

The officers, for their part, described a wild melee that they claimed Mr. Parsons provoked by charging out of his jeep in a rage. They said that he repeatedly attacked them, wrestling them to the ground, and gave up only after receiving a few measured jolts with the taser.

Judge Harris rejected their story almost entirely. "The events that unfolded at the side of the road that December evening strike me as epitomizing arbitrary and capricious conduct deserving of strong condemnation from this court," he said.

Judge Harris also noted that the Crown dropped the charges against Mr. Parsons, who sued police over his treatment.

The award was assessed at $83,000, but only $50,000 could be awarded for technical legal reasons. It includes $30,000, against officers Tallevi, Woodfine and Cirillo for the assault and tasering; $19,000 against Officer Tallevi for false arrest and false imprisonment and malicious prosecution; and $10,000 for nervous shock and emotional distress.

Judge Harris awarded $20,000 to Ms. Ryckman

 

[BallzDeep]

Was this brutal abuse by the cops, yes......would it have happened if the guy hadn't said anything to provoke a confrontation, no.

 

[69suds]

I am curious to know what will happen to the officers. It would actually mean something if the officers were charged. Most likely they will get a reprimand, time off with pay. Nothing really happens unless someone actually dies.

 

[mandrill]

Those cops are history now. While the Force will cover up everything it can, once something like this breaks, the public outcry means the Force has to distance itself from the shitheads who got found out and cast them away.

Kudos to the judge for having the balls to come out like that and find against them.

 

[kk56]

and they probably hired by Toronto Police or elsewhere...

 

[69suds]

Those cops are history now. While the Force will cover up everything it can, once something like this breaks, the public outcry means the Force has to distance itself from the shitheads who got found out and cast them away.

Kudos to the judge for having the balls to come out like that and find against them.

Don't kind yourself. Thinks really haven't changed. If you ever end up having to file a complaint you will have a better insight into reality.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/05/05/toronto-police-misconduct.html

 

[69suds]

They govern themselves. Good luck trying to get justice.

http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/professionalstandards/complaint.php

 

[C Dick]

I think how the police handle it depends on their interpretation of the events. They will decide for themselves, they do not care what the court says. If the leadership feels that the guy had it coming for yelling, or prior incidents, then they will be able to protect the officers. But if they feel that the officers did something stupid, and brought bad attention for no good reason, then their careers will be crippled.

 

[landscaper]

If the testimony was rejected by the judge perjury charges could be brought I would also think that assault charges are in order given that they used more than reasonable force subduing him.

Whether they lay charges will depend on how much heat the senior crown gets.

 

[landscaper]

If the testimony was rejected by the judge perjury charges could be brought I would also think that assault charges are in order given that they used more than reasonable force subduing him.

Whether they lay charges will depend on how much heat the senior crown gets.

 

[WhaWhaWha]

From today's Globe & Mail.
persuaded that their testimony was at times self-serving, often equivocal and unclear, and in some instances, pure fiction," Judge Harris said. "Their testimony also struck me as being too pure and sanitized."

This is often the case when police present their evidence in every situation. Even traffic cases.

 

[jiiimmm]

Was this brutal abuse by the cops, yes......would it have happened if the guy hadn't said anything to provoke a confrontation, no.

Perhaps a little respect for law enforcement would have helped this dumb ass avoid all of this.

 

[69suds]

Have any of you followed the RCMP taser story where the Polish guy died. The cops lied. The only reason we know that tghey lied is 1) they have it on video, 2) they have e-mails showing collusion.

 

[Aardvark154]

yelling "hey baby" is cause for provocation LOL!

It sounds as though he had a history of behaving like a jerk.

Does that excuse the Constables actions - no, it does however, perhaps explain them.

 

[mandrill]

It sounds as though he had a history of behaving like a jerk.

Does that excuse the Constables actions - no, it does however, perhaps explain them.

Errr, ummmm..... Aren't we supposed to be able to trust the cops to behave lawfully and properly???? Not taser someone's nuts and leave them writhing in agony and then try and lie about it in court.

He yelled "Hey, baby!" So that "explains" why he got beaten and tortured??!!??!!

 

[Jade4u]

Maybe each time a man whistles at a woman or says hey baby each woman should be allowed to taser them too. lol

It just shows that police can at times get away with having no self control. They can put anything in thier reports saying that citizens are disorderly and all thier fancy mumbo jumbo, change words around a bit to make the citizen look more unruly and present thier accusations in such a way that a citizen more likely than not does not have a chance on a witness stand.

These tasers really are getting out of control imho. It is like giving an infant a new toy and them staring at it in the box unopened and they just cannot wait to try it out. Once they get it out they cannot stop playing with it until they get thier fill of it. In some cased they enjoy the reactions of the new toy too much they can never get enough.

For centuries people have always loved a good match that involved human suffering and here the police do not even have to buy a ring side seat. Just like a criminal that murders now all they have to do is find ways to avoid prosecution.

 

[Jade4u]

Errr, ummmm..... Aren't we supposed to be able to trust the cops to behave lawfully and properly???? Not taser someone's nuts and leave them writhing in agony and then try and lie about it in court.

He yelled "Hey, baby!" So that "explains" why he got beaten and tortured??!!??!!

You got that right BABY.

 

[BallzDeep]

My point is, if I was the guy and I was laying in a hospital bed, even though i didn't deserve the beating, I might have said to myself, why didn't I just keep my mouth shut. Would he have said the same thing if it were 5 bikers?

If there's 5 cops standing around and I'm driving by, if they're not bugging me, I sure as hell aren't bugging them.

 

[nottyboi]

Perhaps a little respect for law enforcement would have helped this dumb ass avoid all of this.

Isn't it reasonable to expect police officers to act with more restraint then drunken adolescent thugs?

 

[FOOTSNIFFER]

Stay well clear of the police. And no, 'if I'm not doing anything wrong, then I've got nothing to worry about' isn't a good strategy when dealing with those overcaffeinated jerks.