Durham officers guilty of 'pro-police bias' in Dafonte Miller case: tribunal
CBC
Three Durham police officers committed professional misconduct when they showed "pro-police bias," conducting an inadequate investigation of the incident that led to the conviction of an off-duty Toronto constable for assaulting Dafonte Miller in 2016, according to a disciplinary tribunal ruling.
Citing the serious injuries sustained by then-19-year-old Miller, retired Ontario Provincial Police Supt. Greg Walton, who oversaw the disciplinary proceedings, said in a ruling dated June 26 that the officers ignored clear signs that a thorough investigation was warranted.
"The inequity in injuries and one-sided result of the altercation alone begged for questions to be asked," Walton said.
"I am convinced that the main reason those inquiries did not occur is because of the involvement and role of an off-duty officer."
Lawyer Ian Johnstone, one of the prosecutors in the proceedings, said disciplinary charges and convictions for showing "pro-police bias" are rare.
"I don't know of another case in Canada," Johnstone, who regularly prosecutes police disciplinary matters, said in an interview.
The Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) moved forward with the prosecution of the three officers after the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) notified it in 2021 that the oversight body had deemed some misconduct allegations against the officers to be "substantiated."
The OIPRD also deemed misconduct by a fourth officer to be substantiated; he pled guilty earlier this year to neglect of duty, according to Walton's ruling.
Both Johnstone and Asha James, a lawyer who represented Miller during the disciplinary proceedings, confirmed that the proceedings arose from a complaint Miller filed with the OIPRD in 2017.
Superior Court Justice Joseph Di Luca found Michael Theriault guilty of assault in 2020, saying the off-duty Toronto police officer had struck Miller with a pipe after he and his brother Christian found the teenager and a friend stealing from the brothers' parents' vehicle.
Although he expressed doubts about parts of the incident, Di Luca said in a ruling that the brothers were, at one point, "probably just beating on Mr. Miller," who was badly injured, and later underwent surgery to remove his left eye.
Christian Theriault was acquitted of aggravated assault and obstruction of justice.
In this week's disciplinary ruling, Walton found DRPS Const. Andrew Chmelowsky guilty of discreditable conduct for "accepting and not questioning the evidence of the Theriault brothers," and for failing to fully investigate Miller's injuries.
Walton made a similar finding against Const. Barbara Zabdyr and Const. Justine Gendron, saying the latter accepted Christian Theriault's evidence, and failed to record relevant information.
Businesses in Edmonton don’t have to recycle or compost — but that could soon change.
A day after two elderly Vancouver Island women told RCMP they had been scammed for thousands of dollars, a man walked into the detachment saying he took their money during his delivery work and was unsure if what he was doing was legal.
Schools across the Hamilton, Niagara, Burlington and Brantford areas are closed today after the area was hit with a winter storm overnight.
All school buses in Windsor and Essex County are cancelled on Thursday morning according to Windsor-Essex Student Transportation Services.
Newly released court documents in the case of Jack and Lilly Sullivan offer more details on the relationship between their mother and stepfather leading up to the children's disappearance more than eight months ago.
Another sawmill in northwestern Ontario is being shut down indefinitely.
Heavy snow throughout the Greater Toronto Area is forcing residents to rethink their Thursday morning schedules due to transit delays and a number of school closures.
Pack your patience and bundle up because Thursday is going to be a snowy and cold day in Waterloo region, Guelph and Wellington County.
An N.W.T. judge has ruled that a complicated dispute involving Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation (LKDFN) and the accounting firm KPMG should mostly be heard in open court, and not through a separate arbitration process.
In military deterrence lingo, what we're witnessing in Greenland is sometimes referred to as the "glass plate" or the "tripwire."
Canada's top court is hearing final arguments on Thursday in a case resurfacing former prime minister Justin Trudeau's role in the WE Charity scandal, which could bring sweeping changes to how Canadians hold their elected officials accountable.
National home sales in Canada declined by 1.9 per cent in December compared to the same period a year earlier, according to a report published by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) on Wednesday, capping a year that saw lower interest rates but heightened economic anxiety.
Ontario sent a blunt message to U.S. booze suppliers when it yanked their alcohol off its shelves last year, pledging to redirect customers to local producers, and those businesses say they’re trying to make the most of what could be a limited-time opportunity to change buying habits.