Eliott David Behar

A police constable was charged with assault causing bodily harm after forcibly taking an intoxicated man to the ground during an arrest for public intoxication.

The Crown alleged excessive use of force.

The court found the arrest was lawful under the Liquor Licence Act and that the force used was necessary and not excessive.

The officer believed the arrestee was about to strike his partner and pulled him away, resulting in an unintended fall.

The defendant was acquitted.

The accused, a police constable charged with assault causing bodily harm, brought a motion for an order requiring the Crown to disclose occurrence reports relating to police investigations of the complainant.

The accused sought evidence of the complainant's history of intoxication, violence, and resistance to arrest to support a defence of justified use of force during arrest.

The court found that the occurrence reports constituted first-party disclosure obligations under the Crown's duty to disclose, applying the principles from R. v. McNeil.

The court ordered the Crown to examine sealed packages from the police services and review all occurrence reports for potentially relevant information relating to the complainant's past conduct.