Ottawa constable allegedly stepped on a man’s head and neck for two minutes during arrest, trial hears

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The trial of an Ottawa police officer charged with assault with a weapon whereas arresting a person in 2021 opened Monday with graphic video displaying Const. Goran Beric allegedly stepping on the person’s head for a full two minutes earlier than the person seems to move out in a pool of his personal blood.

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Beric has pleaded not responsible to assault and to assault with a weapon — by allegedly placing the person’s head along with his baton — throughout a violent takedown inside an Ottawa Group Housing advanced on Bronson Avenue on Aug. 4, 2021.

He’s represented by Ottawa defence lawyer Karin Stein and the trial is being heard by Ontario Courtroom Justice Janet O’Brien, who was introduced in from an outdoor jurisdiction to preside over the Ottawa officer’s judge-alone trial this week.

Crown Counsel Vlatko Karadzic, equally assigned as an out-of-town prosecutor, opened the Crown’s case in opposition to Beric Monday with a 39-minute composite video taken on the night time of the incident by two CCTV cameras contained in the advanced at 506 Bronson Ave.

The accused officer was charged by Waterloo police in April 2022 with one depend of assault within the line of responsibility and one other depend of assault with a weapon following the violent “interplay” with the person.

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The sufferer of the alleged assault was recognized in courtroom throughout the officer’s trial this week, however he’s not collaborating as a complainant or as a witness. This newspaper just isn’t figuring out the alleged sufferer.

Karadzic stated on Monday that the costs stem solely from the video proof, which reveals two separate angles of the arrest.

Karadzic instructed courtroom that 5 uniformed patrol officers arrived on the OCH advanced that night time “in response to a male coated in blood who was screaming within the constructing.”

Beric was one of many 5 officers who’s seen within the video, and considered one of two officers concerned within the bodily takedown.

“The allegation is that he used his police-used expandable baton, or ASP, to strike the person a number of occasions, together with on the top,” Karadzic instructed the choose within the Crown’s opening deal with.

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“The (assault) allegation is that in stepping on (the person’s) head and neck space for over two minutes whereas the person was on the bottom, the officer used extreme pressure.”

The trial, which is being held in-person on the Ottawa courthouse and isn’t accessible to the broader public by way of Zoom, was anticipated to listen to from a number of witnesses, together with two different Ottawa cops who responded to the decision that night time.

The video proof central to the Crown’s case was performed in its entirety in courtroom Monday. This newspaper has made a proper request to the choose to publicly launch the video.

Taken from a motion-activated digital camera, the composite video reveals the inside foyer of the OCH constructing as police enter simply earlier than 10:30 p.m., the place they be part of two uniformed safety guards already onsite.

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One other angle taken from an inside hallway depicts the arrest, as officers take positions blocking the exit and a stairwell whereas others seem to knock on a door simply out of body.

The alleged sufferer of the assault is then seen and seems to be staggering within the hallway. The trial has heard that the person had a number of cuts to his head previous to police arriving.

There is no such thing as a audio, and it’s unclear what phrases are being spoken within the moments earlier than the violent takedown.

The person doesn’t look like bodily resisting arrest at that time within the video and doesn’t seem assaultive when one unidentified officer kicks the person to the ground.

Two officers are seen struggling to bodily restrain him and one of many officers, alleged to be Beric, is seen placing the person along with his baton.

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Because the battle continues with the person face-down on the ground, the officer alleged to be Beric is then seen stepping on the again of the person’s head.

A 3rd police officer and one of many safety guards are seen within the video standing within the hallway close by, watching.

The officer’s foot stays in place on the person’s head and neck space for greater than two minutes till the person seems to lose consciousness, arms cuffed behind his again and his blood pooling on the ground.

Officers are then seen checking the person’s pulse and, minutes later, a doctor is seen attending to him because the video ends.

Beric has been employed by the Ottawa Police Service since 2006 and his coaching report, together with his coaching on use-of-force choices, was entered into proof at his trial.

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His baton was turned over to investigators with Waterloo police in 2021 and filed as an exhibit this week.

Police coaching dictates {that a} baton is assessed as an “intermediate” weapon in use-of-force mannequin, Karadzic instructed the choose, and is “usually deployed in response to lively resistance or assault behaviour.”

Officers are taught they need to deal with placing on the “centre mass” whereas avoiding the top and neck, Karadzic stated.

The costs had been laid in April 2022 by the Waterloo Regional Police Service after the file was transferred from the Ottawa police skilled requirements part, the unit that investigates allegations of officer misconduct.

Ottawa police stated in a information launch on the time that the file was transferred to Waterloo “for transparency” and that the incident didn’t “fall throughout the Particular Investigations Unit’s (SIU) mandate.”

Beric has been assigned to administrative duties because the incident. His trial continues.

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