Friday, January 23, 2009

Crown asks Ontario Court of Appeal for new trial for officer acquitted in assault of protester caught on video

It is rare for the Crown to appeal an acquittal involving a police officer. But that is exactly what the Crown has asked the Ontario Court of Appeal in a case involving assault and perjury. On Nov. 8, 2003, during a protest by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, a video-camera caught Officer Amar Singh Katoch punch Alex Levant, a PhD student at York University. The officer had testified at Levant's trial that it was Levant who had assaulted him. Once the video was shown in court to the officer, the charges against Levant were dropped and now Katoch was charged. Despite the videotape evidence, Katoch was acquitted at his trial.

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