Edmonton police officer who repeatedly struck arrestee with baton found not guilty
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Jurors on Wednesday returned to the courtroom after nine hours of deliberation and found Const. Alexander Doduk not guilty of two counts of assault for his arrest of construction worker Justin LaFrance near the Edmonton courthouse on a snowy morning in 2019.
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LaFrance claimed Doduk attacked him as he tried to talk to a man suspected of breaking a window, while Doduk said LaFrance resisted arrest, including by grabbing at his duty belt.
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The chaotic arrest — during which Doduk hit and punched LaFrance before striking him repeatedly with his baton — was captured on security cameras at the nearby Royal Alberta Museum. The cameras did not record sound, leading to competing claims from Crown and defence about what LaFrance and Doduk said before and during the arrest.
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As a rule, jurors do not explain how they arrived at their verdict, but the outcome indicates they believed the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Doduk used excessive force.
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Jurors did not hear other details about Doduk's career — including his role in the death of Steven Nguyen, an unarmed man who died after Doduk shot him four times in 2021. The shooting was investigated by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), which concluded there were grounds to believe Doduk committed a 'culpable homicide.' The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, however, declined to proceed with charges, saying it could not prove Doduk's actions were 'unreasonable' under the Criminal Code's police use-of-force provisions.
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The arrest at the centre of Doduk's trial happened Nov. 26, 2019. LaFrance was part of a crew renovating a building across the street from the Edmonton courthouse and told court he heard glass break during his morning site check. He walked out onto 97 Street, flagged down a passerby and asked if he had seen someone break a window. The passerby pointed to a man in dark clothing on the opposite street corner by the museum, LaFrance testified.
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LaFrance said he waved to Doduk as the officer drove by in his cruiser, and crossed 97 Street diagonally after Doduk flashed his lights to control traffic. He said he caught up with the alleged vandal and calmly asked him to stop until police arrived.
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Doduk described a different scene. Driving by on his way to the courthouse, Doduk claimed he heard LaFrance screaming threats at the vandalism suspect, then saw him cross the busy road during rush hour. Doduk said he parked his cruiser and went after the two men, worried they would come to blows.
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