Previous complaints made about police conduct in the beating and arrest of Dafonte Miller, such as a Durham police officer handing over handcuffs to Michael Theriault on his request, are now being investigated, the law firm representing Miller says.
Falconers LLP's complaints to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director - which receives, manages and oversees all complaints about police in Ontario - were put on hold in December because the trial against Theriault and his brother Christian was underway.
"Now that the verdict has been released, my understanding is that they are going ahead with their investigation of those complaints," firm partner Asha James said, adding they have kept in contact for months with OIPRD investigators.
Micheal Theriault was recently found guilty of assault, but not the original charge of aggravated assault, in the December 2016 arrest of Miller, while also being acquitted of obstruction of justice.
His brother, Christian Theriault, was acquitted of both obstruction and assault charges.
In November, Durham Police Cst. Barbra Zabdyr testified that she was one of the first on-scene and handed over her handcuffs to Michael Theriault after he identified himself as an off-duty police officer with the Toronto Police Service, without confirming his credentials and determining exactly what occurred between the brothers and Miller. She then allowed Michael Theriault to not only handcuff Miller but also perform the search and pat down of the young man.
Durham Police declined to comment on the revelation in court at the time because the trial was ongoing.
Following the verdict, the force cannot disclose what, if any, action was taken against Zabdyr because a public hearing has not occurred and the Police Services Act restricts any potential disciplinary information from being released unless a hearing is called.
The confidentiality provision in the Act also prevents the OIPRD itself from commenting on any matters and any complaints that are found to be substantiated, also only come out during a public hearing.
"The Director cannot confirm the receipt of a complaint or provide any related information in any specific matter," the office said. "When an investigation is complete, the investigative report is sent to the relevant parties: the Chief, the complainant, and the respondent officer(s). Upon review of the report, the Chief will decide the appropriate discipline, if any. If the Chief believes the misconduct is of a serious nature, then they will order a disciplinary hearing. Where the matter proceeds to a discipline hearing, it is a public hearing."
The handing over the handcuffs is just one of many actions taken by Durham and Toronto Police that Miller's law firm want investigated.
"He (Theriault) was acting in his capacity as a civilian and not in his capacity as a police officer and so he was performing a citizen arrest," James said. "If that's the case, I could never expect that somebody would undergo a citizen arrest and then the police would show up and the police officers would say 'here you go, you did a good job, go ahead and placed these handcuffs on this individual.'"
"You would expect that when they arrive on scene, that they would one, remove Michael Theriault from Mr. Miller given that they've had this violent exchange, you can see blood everywhere and ensure that Dafonte was all right," she said.
With the complaints ranging for multiple officers and their chiefs, James expects it'll take months to get a final determination.
With files from Hayley Cooper