By Michele Mandel

Hundreds of Torontonians detained in mass arrests during the G20 summit have been given the court’s go-ahead to proceed with their multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuits against Toronto and Peel police services, the RCMP and OPP.

In a unanimous ruling, the three judges of the Divisional Court overturned a lower court decision last May that refused to allow them to sue as a group.

The Divisional Court had surprisingly harsh words for the police if the allegations in the lawsuits are true. “If the appellant’s central allegation is proven, the conduct of the police violated a basic tenet of how police in a free and democratic society are expected to conduct themselves. Their actions, if proven, constitute an egregious breach of the individual liberty interests of ordinary citizens,” Justice Ian Nordheimer wrote on behalf of the panel.

By Steve Kupferman

Toronto’s G20 summit seems like a distant memory, but some of the things that happened during that hectic, violent weekend in June 2010 are still working their way through the court system. Today, Const. Glenn Weddell, the first Toronto police officer to go to trial on criminal charges as a result of his actions during the summit, was acquitted of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.

The Star reports that Weddell’s troubles began on June 26th, when he allegedly attacked and broke the shoulder of a man who was with a crowd of protesters in Queen’s Park South. That man, Dorian Barton, claimed that he wasn’t participating in the protest, and that the assault was unprovoked.

TORONTO - The two most prolific American rioters in the G20 chaos of 2010 were slapped with the longest sentences meted out — 24 and 20 months respectively for terrorizing police and the public.

Kevin Chianella, 21, received the two-year penitentiary term while Joel Bitar, 28, was handed the 20-month term Thursday by Justice Ronald Boivin.

Both Americans admitted using Black Bloc tactics — donning masks or disguises and then attacking storefronts and police cars — as they pleaded guilty to various offences.

“These were very serious offences that put people in jeopardy and caused chaos in the City of Toronto,” said Boivin.

Chianella caused $300,000 worth of damage — the most by any protester — and faced the highest number of offences — 52 charges. The Queens, N.Y., resident got the longer sentence because he swung a bag full of rocks at a police cruiser with Staff-Sgt. Graham Queen trapped inside.

An American who admitted to smashing store windows and throwing a stone at a police car during Toronto’s G20 riots was sentenced Monday to seven months in jail.

Richard Dean Morano, 23, of Lackawaxen, Penn. admitted to being part of the “black bloc,” a group who violently disrupted peaceful demonstrations while disguised in black clothing and masks, according to an agreed statement of facts.

He was also ordered to pay $3,500 in restitution and is banned from Toronto for two years.

On June 26, 2010, the “black bloc” group swarmed a police cruiser driven by Staff Sgt. Graham Queen, one of the police cars later set on fire.

The officer was trapped in the car while the windows were smashed and he was struck in the back of the head “causing an injury not requiring further medical treatment.”

TORONTO – An American Black Bloc protester who swarmed a police cruiser and trashed several stores in the G20 summit riots should be locked up for 12 to 15 months, a Crown attorney urged Tuesday.

Richard Dean Morano admitted he was one of the protesters donning dark disguises and black clothing who engaged in a reign of terror and devastation on June 26, 2010, in downtown Toronto.

Toronto Police Staff-Sgt. Graham Queen “was forced to stop his marked police cruiser” near Spadina Ave. and Queen St. W. “because of the violence perpetrated on him and his vehicle,” Crown attorney Liz Nadeau said. She implored the court to imprison Morano for up to 15 months for his five acts of public mischief and one count of mischief endangering the life of employees at a Yonge St. clothing outlet, where the shattered windows threatened the terrified staff.

TORONTO - A police officer who arrested a man wearing a bandana around his neck at the tumultuous G20 summit in Toronto three years ago has been found guilty of misconduct — the first such finding arising out of that weekend.

A police services tribunal convicted Const. Vincent Wong of unlawfully arresting Jay Wall for being disguised with intent to commit an offence.

The charge had alleged Wong, who was on patrol with his co-accused, Const. Blair Begbie, had arrested Wall illegally.

In convicting the officer, adjudicator Walter Gonet, a retired judge, found "clear and convincing" evidence that Wong had no reasonable grounds to arrest Wall on Sunday June 27, 2010.

Youri Couture and Guillame Constantineau given six months in custody

Two men have pleaded guilty to smashing store windows, assaulting officers and wearing masks during the G20 protests in Toronto.

Youri Couture, 25, and Guillame Constantineau, 32, were each sentenced to six months in custody after pleading guilty to criminal charges Friday in a Montreal court.

Police say that on June 26, 2010, Couture threw a long wooden post over a crowd of protesters and into a line of police officers at Queen Street West and John Street.

He was also captured on video throwing a rock through the window of a Starbucks on Yonge Street. Couture was wearing a red-and-black bandana over his face during both incidents.

A Toronto constable has been found guilty of assault with a weapon after he struck a man with a baton while he was pinned to the ground by several officers during the G20 protests in Toronto in 2010.

Constable Babak Andalib-Goortani was convicted Thursday, in the high-profile case of protester Adam Nobody, whose arrest was captured on video while he was kicked, punched and struck in the face with a knee.

“The resistance offered by Mr. Nobody was minimal … A police officer is not entitled to use unlimited force to effect arrest,” Ontario Court Justice Louise Botham said in her decision. “I do not believe … that any of the blows struck by the defendant were proportionate or necessary.”

The video evidence was “limited but cogent,” the judge said.

The story of how councillors endorsed the G20 detention centre has five heroes

By Jonathan Goldsbie

It hangs in a frame on the wall of Gord Perks’s office without any context: a rudimentary printout of city council vote GM29.22, dated 3/31/10.

There are 26 yea votes and five nay votes recorded on it. And each of the five people responsible for those nays has graced the page with their signature.

I’d first heard about the artifact years ago. But now that we were approaching the third anniversary of the G20 – the fallout of which continues to trickle through our justice system – I thought I’d finally ask to see it.

On the date the vote took place, March 31, 2010, Toronto city council met in camera from 6:06 to 6:50 pm. In some ways, the debate was like every other: rifts emerged between the downtown and the suburbs, between idealists and pragmatists.

Our comrade Dane Rossman is currently locked up at Toronto West Detention Centre in Ontario, Canada. Dane was extradited June 14th, after being held without bail since February 21st at the Central Arizona Detention Center in Florence, Arizona. Another comrade, Joel Bitar, is currently free on bail in New York, awaiting the start of his trial in Toronto. They are both facing heavy fines and prison time for their alleged participation in breaking windows during the 2010 G20 in Toronto. They are among five Americans that Canada has sought to extradite for such offenses, along with Kevin Chianella, Quinn McCormic, and Richard Dean Morano.

While extradition for vandalism is incredibly rare, it is not entirely unheard-of. In January, a Mexican man was extradited to Houston, Texas for spray-painting “CONQUISTA” on Picasso’s Woman in Red Armchair. And Singapore, which drew international attention in 1994 for caning an American citizen convicted of vandalism, is currently seeking to extradite a British national for his participation in spray-painting a subway car.

Police trainer only allowed to speak to ‘hypothetical’ situation which closely mirrors the one Andalib-Goortani says he faced.

Police officers are supposed to use the least amount of force necessary to control a situation and must be able to explain and justify the amount of muscle they use.

That’s what a Toronto police officer responsible for training up to 5,000 cops a year said on the stand Wednesday at a trial for Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani, who has pleaded not guilty to assaulting 30-year-old G20 protester Adam Nobody with a weapon, his police baton.

Andalib-Goortani, 33, has testified that he believed Nobody was resisting arrest and trying to get away from police. The officer said he struck and jabbed the protester with his baton, in accordance with his training, to help control the situation and finish the arrest.

The start of the second trial for a Toronto police officer on allegations stemming from the G20 protests has been delayed after a new video was discovered.

Constable Babak Andalib-Goortani is charged with assault with a weapon over allegations excessive force was used against a protester at the G20 summit in 2010.

The charge was laid by Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, after a protester had his nose and cheekbone fractured during his arrest.

The trial was supposed to begin Monday, but as court began both the Crown and the defence said they needed time to review a video of the arrest that surfaced.

Defence lawyer Harry Black says the SIU has had the video since February 2011, but he and the Crown didn’t get it until Friday.

Const. Glenn Weddell is on trial for criminal charges stemming from G20 protests

The first Toronto police officer to go to trial on criminal charges from G20 protests told court Tuesday he didn't hit or shove a man he's accused of assaulting, but other officers might have.

Const. Glenn Weddell testified at his trial that the only contact he had with Dorian Barton on June 26, 2010, was to help him up off the ground.

Barton's shoulder was broken that day and he alleges that a police officer hit him with a riot shield, knocking him to the ground, and that he was hit several more times, possibly with a baton, before being dragged away.

Const. Glenn Weddell charged with assault, assault causing bodily harm

The first trial of a Toronto police officer criminally charged in the wake of the G20 protests in 2010 is set to start today.

Const. Glenn Weddell is charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

Dorian Barton said his arm was broken by officers who arrested him during a G20 protest nearly three years ago.

Civilian witnesses told Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit that Barton, who was taking pictures of mounted police officers, was struck with a riot shield and then hit with a baton after he fell to the ground.

An Ontario judge has ruled that hundreds of people detained during the G20 summit three years ago can't sue as a group.

The proposed $45-million class action lawsuit was spearheaded by Sherry Good, a 51-year-old office administrator who says she was corralled by cops for four hours when police in riot gear used a tactic called kettling.

But Friday a judge ruled that it can't proceed as a class action, saying its "broad, sweeping nature" is problematic.

A statement from lawyer Murray Klippenstein's office says they will appeal the decision.

Timothy Appleby

Almost three years after the tumultuous G20 summit, scrutiny of yet another skirmish gets an airing in court Tuesday. This time the catalyst is a bandana.

At issue in the Divisional Court hearing at Toronto’s Osgoode Hall will be the way a G20 –related complaint was handled by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, the watchdog that probes complaints against Ontario police.

In this instance, it’s alleged the OIPRD fell short by failing to properly examine the circumstances that gave rise to the complaint, in particular the source of the orders that resulted in the complainant being arrested, locked up for more than 24 hours and released without charge.

Timothy Appleby

That would be the perspective of Toronto police as two American citizens sought for their roles in the G20 summit riots three years ago appeared in court Wednesday morning after being extradited to Canada and flown to Toronto the night before.

The two latest suspects to be reeled in are Kevin Chianella, 20, of Queens, New York, who faces a total of 53 charges, including arson; and Richard Dean Morano of Lackawaxen, Penn., 22, wanted on 14 criminal charges that include assaulting police.

On Thursday, February 14th, at 6 o’clock in the morning, federal marshals arrested an American activist, Joel Bitar, in his New York, NY home on a provisional arrest warrant issued by the US Attorney’s office, acting on a foreign extradition request from Canadian authorities. The complaint against Joel cites 26 counts, almost all relating to property damage that occurred during the G20 summit protests in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in June 2010. After a temporary delay in court proceedings—due to an outbreak of lice in the federal prison where Joel and many others have the misfortune of being held, the weekend, and a national holiday on Monday—Joel went before Magistrate Judge, Gabriel W. Gorenstein, on Tuesday, February 19th, to determine whether he would be granted bail as he awaits his extradition hearing in the United States. During the proceedings, a general timeline of the actions of the Canadian and US authorities was established.

Joel was arrested in Toronto, along with a little over 1,100 other people, during the G20 protests on June 26 and 27th 2010, in what is thought to be the largest mass arrest in Canada’s history. Joel was processed and released without any charges. In December 2010, lead G20 investigator, Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux, announced to various Canadian news agencies that Canada was seeking the extradition of three Americans for damages amounting to $500,000. Soon after, Joel retained the services of an attorney, Martin Stolar, who contacted Giroux. According to Stolar’s testimony on Tuesday, Giroux confirmed that Joel was a suspect and they were investigating him on charges relating to property destruction.

As of today, January 17th 2012 Alex Hundert has been held for 6 days in segregation (the hole). He is facing institutional charges (which are different from criminal charges, but can prolong his sentence and assign punitive time in the hole) stemming from a refusal of lock down to protest general degrading of conditions in the jail.

The lock down refusal took place on Saturday January 12th, around 4 units participated and their demands were to reclaim 30 minutes at the end of the day (lockup at 7 instead of 6:30) so people could have more time to use the phones to call their families when the rates are significantly cheaper. That is also when relatives and friends are home from work and can take calls. At 6:50pm, after a 20 minute stand-off, fifty to sixty guards stormed the range and forced everyone into their cells. One guy was tackled, assaulted and dragged off the range in cuffs.

TORONTO — A senior police officer responsible for two notorious “kettling” incidents at the infamous G20 summit in 2010 had his case put over for two months Tuesday to allow time for disclosure.

Supt. Mark Fenton faces five separate charges related to the incidents in which police boxed in and arrested numerous people in the downtown core.

Fenton, who was the major incident commander at the time, is accused of making an illegal arrest, unlawful detention and harming the reputation of the police force.

He has pleaded not guilty and none of the allegations has been proven.

Speaking for the prosecution, lawyer Brendan van Niejenhuis asked Tuesday that the case be put over until March 4, saying the disclosure process was a “laborious process.”