Trial delayed for second police officer charged in G20 protests after new video discovered
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.
A separate trial is set for next year for Constable Andalib-Goortani, 30, on a second charge of assault with a weapon that was laid by Toronto police.
Last week the other Toronto police officer who faced criminal charges in the G20 protests was found not guilty of assault.
A judge ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Constable Glenn Weddell shoved and hit a protester.
Police came under intense criticism for their handling of protests that boiled over into violence and vandalism.
The vast majority of the more than 1,100 people detained in what Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin called “the most massive compromise of civil liberties in Canadian history” were released without charge.
Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/trial-delayed-for-second-police-officer-charged-in-g20-protests-after-new-video-discovered/article12305310/