Latest news with #JustinLaFrance
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
Man injured during 2019 arrest questioned at EPS officer's assault trial
Social Sharing A man injured during an arrest where an Edmonton police officer hit him with a baton was questioned by the officer's defence team as the assault trial continued Tuesday. EPS Const. Alexander Doduk has pleaded not guilty to assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm against Justin LaFrance, who testified that he flagged down the officer for help with a man he suspected of causing damage at his downtown worksite. Defence lawyer Dino Bottos cross-examined LaFrance for most of the second day of the trial, repeatedly suggesting to him that the incident didn't unfold the way he described. LaFrance told the court Monday that he heard a window break while he was at his construction job at the former Downtown Farmers' Market building on the morning of Nov. 26, 2019. He started following a man outside who someone else pointed out as a possible culprit, eventually running across the intersection at 97th Street and 103A Avenue to try to catch up with him. LaFrance said he waved at an officer behind the wheel of a marked police vehicle, and expected him to come ask what was going on, but instead Doduk forcefully took the other man to the ground. Video of 2019 arrest played in court at EPS officer's assault trial 11 hours ago Duration 1:40 The jury has seen two videos of the incident — one begins shortly before the first man is arrested, but shows the events in grainy footage shot from far away. The second video shows much more detail, starting with the man LaFrance was following already on the ground in handcuffs. The officer identified as Doduk appears to be in a physical struggle with LaFrance, who's on his knees on the sidewalk. The video appears to show the constable hit LaFrance, then take out his police baton and swing it at him several times. LaFrance eventually get to his feet and step backwards, into traffic on the road, and as he keeps backing away, more police officers show up and take him to the ground. The jury looked through dozens of photos taken on the day of the arrest showing LaFrance's injuries, including bruises, a black eye and a chipped tooth. He told the court that the charges laid against him that day were later withdrawn. Bottos put to LaFrance that he ignored Doduk's initial attempt to ask him what was going on after the officer noticed him angry and yelling, accusing the man he was following of breaking a window and saying he was going to kill him. "No sir. You're making an assumption and a suggestion of anger," LaFrance said. LaFrance denied Bottos's suggestion that he "forcefully" pushed Doduk's arm while he was arresting the other man after the officer had already told him to back off. And he denied that Doduk ever informed him he was under arrest for assaulting a peace officer and obstruction. "When he got up, he did not address me. He attacked me. There was no addressing, there was no conversation at that point," he said. Bottos also brought up a message LaFrance sent to two EPS officers he knew from martial arts training, less than two weeks before the arrest. LaFrance acknowledged he wrote the message expressing frustration with police, telling the officers while there's "a one per cent that are good," he'd "lost respect" for their police coworkers and was "ready for war against your bully-with-a-badge a--holes you work with." "[Doduk] was part of the 99 per cent you were at war with. You knew full well you were placed under arrest and you didn't want to listen to him," Bottos said. "No sir," LaFrance answered. The jury will continue hearing evidence in the case on Wednesday.
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Edmonton police constable hit a man seeking police help with baton, jury hears
An Edmonton police officer is on trial this week, facing two assault charges over a 2019 arrest where he allegedly injured a man with a police baton. A jury began hearing evidence Monday in the case against Const. Alexander Doduk, who pleaded not guilty to assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon. He was charged over an incident just outside the courthouse, near 97th Street and 103A Avenue, on the morning of Nov. 26, 2019. It was captured on security video from the Royal Alberta Museum, which was played in court for the jury. Crown prosecutor Michelle Kai told jurors that Doduk hit the complainant, Justin LaFrance, multiple times, as LaFrance fell to his knees. Kai said Doduk then struck him with a police baton as LaFrance raised his arm, trying to defend himself. LaFrance testified on Monday that he had been trying to flag down the officer for help, and he was left with a broken nose, a chipped tooth, an injury to his ribs and bruising down his left arm. Kai said the central question in the case is whether Doduk's actions were justified in the course of his duties as a police officer, whether he had reasonable grounds to arrest LaFrance and if he used no more force than necessary. "The Crown says he was not so justified, and will ask you to find him guilty of assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm," Kai said. Complainant testifies his brain 'shut off' The jury heard that LaFrance was working for a construction company at the former Downtown Farmers' Market building on 97th Street on the day of the alleged assault. LaFrance testified that he got to work at around 7:15 a.m. and began checking the building to make sure there wasn't damage or any break-ins overnight. He said that as he was turning on breakers around the building, he heard what sounded like a window breaking, and went to investigate. He told the jury that a man outside the building pointed him to a person across the street, near the Royal Alberta Museum. LaFrance said he was walking toward that man by the museum, when he saw a marked police car sitting at the intersection, and he waved and pointed at himself and the man to try to indicate he needed help. He told the jury he ran across the road, but when the officer caught up, he suddenly put the other man face down on the ground. "I said, 'I think that's really excessive for breaking a window,' and that he needed to calm down," LaFrance said. He testified that he remembers trying to tap the officer on the shoulder to get his attention to talk about the situation. "The whole purpose of trying to catch this individual was to get a line of communication — not what happened. It was not the intention of what I wanted," LaFrance said. At that point, he said, the police officer "aggressively," grabbed his wrist, and LaFrance pushed his hand away, and started backing away. "That's when I saw the aggression was coming, and my brain just kind of shut off. If he started saying stuff after I got hit, I wouldn't be able to tell you." LaFrance testified that he can't remember the details of what happened next. He said he recalls some time later, when several police officers were on top of him, putting him in handcuffs. He said he couldn't tell where he was because his glasses were broken. Eventually, he said he was taken to an ambulance, where he could feel blood coming down his face. "It's been to this point, almost six years, a gap in my life. I don't know why." The jury heard that LaFrance taken to the hospital, and on the way there, he was told he was being arrested for assaulting a police officer. Later on, he said he was taken to police holding cells, where an investigator took photos of his injuries before he was released on a promise to appear in court.
