This Cree man is attempting to privately prosecute an Edmonton police officer
CBC
Experts say it has never succeeded before in Alberta — but a man from Little Red River Cree Nation is unwilling to back down in his efforts to privately prosecute the police officer who left him with life-altering injuries.
After an investigation, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) asked the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) to consider laying excessive force charges against Const. Ben Todd in April but the Crown declined to prosecute.
On Monday, Pacey Dumas signalled he's not giving up.
Nearly three years after Todd's kick to his head resulted in a serious brain injury, Dumas took the first step aimed at a private prosecution.
Alongside his mom and his lawyer, Dumas swore what's called a "private information" alleging Todd committed aggravated assault, in the hopes of putting the matter before an Alberta Court of Justice judge.
"We've been through so much but that's not holding us back," Dumas, 21, said this week in an interview with CBC News.
"If he got kicked in the head, they would have charged that person."
Private prosecutions are rarely attempted in Canada and have never succeeded in Alberta, according to Edmonton-based civil rights lawyer Tom Engel.
In decades of challenging police brutality, Engel has only initiated private prosecutions twice. Both were unsuccessful.
One of those times occurred in 2006 when the ACPS declined to charge Edmonton police Sgt. Bruce Edwards, who repeatedly shot and nearly killed Engel's client Kirk Steele. Steele had stabbed the officer's police dog.
So, why bother?
"The point might be to make the point — that there is enough evidence to lay a charge," Engel said.
"That Crown will have a name. Not like in the [April] case of Dumas, where that Crown prosecutor remained nameless. At least there will be a name for that prosecutor, and that prosecutor will be responsible for having terminated the prosecution."
The Crown prosecutor may also have a different opinion than the one who declined to prosecute Todd, Engel added.
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