Retired farmer sues Mountie claiming unlawful use of force with stun gun, forced entry into home
CBC
A retired farmer from MacGregor, Man., is suing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after an officer allegedly shocked him with a stun gun after busting into his home.
Leonard Braun is seeking Charter damages in addition to other restitution, but no dollar amount has been attached.
"In our view, the officer's actions represented really a blatant disregard for Mr. Braun's Charter rights to be free from that kind of action by police," said lawyer Karl Gowenlock, who is representing Braun.
Gowenlock said he believes sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were breached, such as Section 8 which deals with unreasonable search and seizure, Section 9 which prohibits arbitrary detention plus Section 7.
"Fundamentally it's a breach of Section 7, which kind of encompasses them all, in that the officer was acting outside of his authority at the time," Gowenlock claimed in an interview.
In February 2023, RCMP officer Cst. Jamie O'Brien and his partner were called to Braun's home after receiving a call to "help keep the peace" by a friend of Braun's former spouse who was helping her move out as the result of a separation, according to the lawsuit filed in the Court of King's Bench last week.
When the Mountie arrived along with his partner, the spouse and her friends were parked outside in a minivan.
O'Brien knocked at the door but Braun did not answer, and instead opened his awning-style kitchen window and told the officer his spouse "had already removed all her personal belongings from the residence, and anything else in the residence was shared marital property," says the statement of claim.
Braun also requested the Mounties to leave his property, says the court document.
O'Brien then tried to unlock the door using the spouse's key and Braun prevented him from opening the door, according to the lawsuit.
The officer then went to the window and knocked, Braun opened it and told him he was not welcome inside and requested him to leave his property, says the court document.
"That seemed to anger the defendant O'Brien," reads the statement of claim.
The officer allegedly placed his arm between the fold-out window and house in order to prevent Braun from closing it.
Braun said he wanted to close the window and reached forward to wind the window shut, according to the statement of claim.
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