Remand guard acquitted of assault for slapping unruly inmate

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Repeatedly slapping a restrained however unruly inmate was not a prison act, a choose has dominated, acquitting a guard on the Calgary Remand Middle of assault.

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Provincial Court docket Decide Brian Stevenson mentioned in a written resolution posted on-line Thursday that Paul Jaroslav Halmazna, 51, was performing in the middle of his duties when he struck inmate James Chartrand on the again and facet of his head .

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“I’m happy that the minimal power utilized by the accused on the particular person of the complainant was justified, affordable and mandatory within the circumstances,” Stevenson mentioned.

Prisoners repeatedly didn’t observe the guard’s requests, says choose

Chartrand acted on March 16, 2021 as a result of he was faraway from his cell and positioned in one other unit after he hospitalized a fellow inmate by assaulting him yesterday.

He was additionally disruptive, threatening one other guard that “he would meet him with a gun within the facility’s parking zone, and inciting different inmates to assault guards,” Stevenson famous.

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After being positioned in an isolation cell, Chartrand started pounding the partitions along with his toes, elbows and palms and yelling on the guards, prompting a supervisor to attend and inform him to relax and that he can be taken again to his unit. .

As an alternative of complying, the inmate swore on the supervisor and continued his disruptive habits, the choose mentioned.

Involved that Chartrand would hurt himself, the warden ordered Halmazna and one other guard to maneuver him to a different space of ​​the jail.

Chartrand was then positioned in hand restraints, leg irons and a abdomen chain.

“All through the handcuffing course of, the complainant continued to fail to adjust to the defendant’s repeated requests and instructions,” Stevenson mentioned.

Throughout his removing, Halmazna determined to look the prisoner, however Chartrand continued his non-compliance, failing to maneuver to a wall, resisting the search, not spreading his legs, and never displaying what, if something, in his mouth was not.

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Guard was entitled to make use of power if it was mandatory to keep up order within the jail: verdict

Stevenson famous that the interplay exterior the isolation cell was captured on safety footage.

“The video reveals the accused making use of bodily distraction strategies in an try and get the complainant to conform. The distraction method used was just a few slaps by the accused on the again and facet of the pinnacle,” mentioned the choose.

He additionally dismissed claims by Chartrand that he was attempting to adjust to the guard’s instructions.

“The complainant is, to say the least, a seasoned prison who, on the time of the incident complained of, had 116 convictions for prison conduct.”

The choose agreed with protection legal professional Jim Lutz that Halmazna was entitled to make use of power to get Chartrand to conform if it was mandatory to keep up order within the jail.

“Order in a correctional establishment can’t be maintained if inmates are free to disobey solely lawful orders given to them by correctional officers,” he mentioned, citing an Alberta Court docket of Attraction.

KMartin@postmedia.com

Twitter: @KMartinCourts