Ashton Gray was charged with mischief and assault police.
She admitted to the offences but sought a stay of proceedings, alleging a breach of her section 7 Charter rights due to excessive police force during her arrest and subsequent detention at the hospital.
The court found that while the initial arrest force was reasonable, Officer Paulini used unnecessary and excessive force at the hospital, motivated by anger, while Ms. Gray was handcuffed, strapped to a stretcher, and suffering from a mental health crisis.
This conduct constituted a breach of Ms. Gray's section 7 Charter rights.
Applying the R. v. Babos test, the court determined that a stay of proceedings was the appropriate and only adequate remedy to dissociate the justice system from the egregious police misconduct, outweighing society's interest in a trial on the merits.
