Edmonton police officer charged denies 'gratuitous' force during arrest
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Jurors will soon be asked to weigh the conflicting narratives presented in court about an arrest where an Edmonton police officer is accused of excessive force.
Const. Alexander Doduk is charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm against Justin LaFrance, a man he encountered on the morning of Nov. 26, 2019, just outside the courthouse where he's now on trial. The officer has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The jury heard closing arguments in the case on Monday, and they're expected to begin deliberations after getting final instructions on Tuesday from Court of King's Bench Justice Lisa Silver.
Video of the incident played in court shows Doduk punch LaFrance, then hit him with a police baton eight times, leaving him with bruises, a chipped tooth and a broken nose.
LaFrance was among the first witnesses to give evidence. He said he was pursuing a man he suspected of breaking a window at his work site in the former Downtown Farmers' Market building, and he waved to Doduk in his marked police vehicle for help — only to watch the officer suddenly take the man to the ground.
According to LaFrance, while he was trying to tell Doduk that what he was doing was "excessive" and he might have the wrong guy, Doduk turned on him without warning.
Doduk took the witness stand in his own defence last week with a different version of what happened, telling the jury LaFrance interfered as he was trying to finish an arrest, and then hit him.
According to the officer, he had to use force to get control of LaFrance as he resisted being arrested, grabbed onto Doduk's duty belt near police-issued weapons including his gun, and held onto the right sleeve of his jacket despite commands to let go.
Defence lawyer Dino Bottos asked Doduk on Thursday whether he felt that he did "anything gratuitous" to LaFrance.
"No, not at all," Doduk answered.
Jury hears officer's account
The morning of the arrest, Doduk was on his way to a traffic court appearance as a police witness.
Just after 8:30 a.m., Doduk said he was in his marked police vehicle at the intersection of 103A Avenue and 97th Street when he noticed someone screaming — he later learned it was LaFrance.
"I heard, 'You broke my window, you piece of shit. I'm going to kill you,'" Doduk testified.
He said he tried to ask LaFrance what happened, but LaFrance ran across traffic to approach another man across the street, near the Royal Alberta Museum.
Believing the men were "imminently" going to fight, Doduk made a call on his police radio asking for more officers at the scene. As he approached the pair, Doduk said LaFrance was still yelling that the man broke a window, so he began to arrest him for mischief.
WATCH | Video of arrest played in court:
Video of 2019 arrest played in court at EPS officer's assault trial
7 days ago
Duration 1:40
The jury heard that the second man was extremely intoxicated at the time, and just a few hours after the incident, he told a different EPS officer that he had no memory of anything that happened. He wasn't called as a witness in the trial.
Doduk said as he grabbed that man's arm to handcuff him, some combination his intoxication and the fresh, slippery snow on the ground made him fall down.
At that point, Doduk said LaFrance came "extremely close" and started telling him there might be a mistake, and it could be the wrong guy.
"I made a motion as if to push him away or shoo him away while telling him, 'Step back, back off,'" Doduk said.
The officer said instead of complying, LaFrance came and pushed his shoulder twice. That, Doduk said, added up to reasonable grounds to arrest him for assaulting a police officer and obstruction.
Officer describes physical struggle
LaFrance testified Doduk didn't say anything before he began hitting him, which the officer denied, telling the jury he followed the police practice of informing LaFrance he was under arrest, then reaching out to take his arm to make it clear he wasn't allowed to leave.
But Doduk told the court that LaFrance pulled his arm away, and as the two struggled back and forth, LaFrance hit him.
"I noted he was aggressive and angry and frustrated. … Now it seems that hostility has been turned and directed at me," Doduk said.
The officer said he repeatedly tried and failed to get LaFrance's arms behind his back, and he hit him with an open hand, then a fist, and finally his knees as LaFrance grabbed his duty belt. The struggle continued, Doduk said, with LaFrance grabbing hold of his jacket sleeve.
"I had, amid the chaos, a moment of dread feeling, because Mr. LaFrance has now taken control of my right hand, my dominant hand," Doduk said.
The officer said he then moved to using his baton, hitting LaFrance five times, then three more after he fell backwards, with Doduk saying he was telling LaFrance to stay down, but he still wasn't complying.
"Throughout this, he's just saying, 'f--k you,'" Doduk said.
"Mr. LaFrance was feeling contempt toward me — that's what I believed. The manner in which he spoke, the look on his face, it was anger, aggression, contempt."
During LaFrance's testimony, he denied that he ever hit Doduk or acted aggressively.
The jury heard that he has no memory of what happened once Doduk started striking him.
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