The arrest and alleged strip search of a Toronto paralegal three days before the G20 summit has left some Canadian legal experts shocked. Some even suggested police may have left the man naked for 48 minutes to humiliate him and teach him respect.
For David Tanovich, a University of Windsor law professor, it's hard to imagine what the grounds would be for a strip search, “let alone dragging him, carrying him, moving him around the cell, like the picture shows on the front page of the Star, naked. There's absolutely no justification.”
The Star reported Friday that Sean Salvati, 33, has filed a lawsuit claiming police illegally arrested and imprisoned him last June. Salvati alleges he was denied access to a lawyer and forcibly strip-searched and beaten while in custody.
The lawsuit alleges Salvati was arrested for public intoxication, then taken to a downtown police station where he was held overnight, questioned on the G20 by two unidentified men, escorted naked past a female officer and placed in a cell for 48 minutes before his clothes were returned.
The claims appear to be supported by footage from 52 Division surveillance cameras, which Salvati's lawyers obtained through freedom-of-information requests.
A charge against Salvati was never ultimately filed in court. He is now suing the Toronto Police Services Board, the attorney general of Canada, and four police officers for at least $75,000, alleging unlawful arrest and imprisonment, assault and battery, and a violation of his Charter rights. The allegations have not been proven in court and no statements of defence have been filed.
Tanovich said he finds Salvati's allegations shocking. In 2001, he successfully argued a Supreme Court case that has since established national guidelines for strip searches.
“The law is pretty clear,” he said. “You can't strip-search someone in custody unless you have strong grounds to believe that they pose a danger to themselves or to officers.”
The Supreme Court has ruled that strip searches are never justified when the arrest is unlawful, as Salvati is alleging his was. Canada's highest court has also ruled that strip searches conducted to punish or humiliate are always unreasonable and that they violate one's Charter rights when carried out without a compelling reason.
A Supreme Court judge has also said that strip searches may be justified when prisoners are being moved into cells with other prisoners, to ensure no weapons or harmful objects are being concealed. But for Salvati, this was not the case, according to his lawyer.
“In fact, Sean was put in a single-person cell,” said Paul Quick, who also points to video footage that shows Salvati being held in an unoccupied single-person cell. “I would not count that as general population, in terms of being a basis for conducting a strip search.”
While stressing that he has not heard the police response to the allegations, Scot Wortley, a University of Toronto criminologist who studies policing, says he “found it a little unusual that (Salvati) seemed to have been paraded in front of the police headquarters and left in a cell naked. That does not seem to be legally relevant.”
According to Wortley, considering the fact that this was a public intoxication arrest and charges were allegedly not filed, police were likely not worried about concealed drugs or weapons.
Instead, he said, this could be a case of strip searches being used to humiliate individuals, as a means to demonstrate power and authority over someone and teach them respect.
Full Article
Source: Toronto Star
For David Tanovich, a University of Windsor law professor, it's hard to imagine what the grounds would be for a strip search, “let alone dragging him, carrying him, moving him around the cell, like the picture shows on the front page of the Star, naked. There's absolutely no justification.”
The Star reported Friday that Sean Salvati, 33, has filed a lawsuit claiming police illegally arrested and imprisoned him last June. Salvati alleges he was denied access to a lawyer and forcibly strip-searched and beaten while in custody.
The lawsuit alleges Salvati was arrested for public intoxication, then taken to a downtown police station where he was held overnight, questioned on the G20 by two unidentified men, escorted naked past a female officer and placed in a cell for 48 minutes before his clothes were returned.
The claims appear to be supported by footage from 52 Division surveillance cameras, which Salvati's lawyers obtained through freedom-of-information requests.
A charge against Salvati was never ultimately filed in court. He is now suing the Toronto Police Services Board, the attorney general of Canada, and four police officers for at least $75,000, alleging unlawful arrest and imprisonment, assault and battery, and a violation of his Charter rights. The allegations have not been proven in court and no statements of defence have been filed.
Tanovich said he finds Salvati's allegations shocking. In 2001, he successfully argued a Supreme Court case that has since established national guidelines for strip searches.
“The law is pretty clear,” he said. “You can't strip-search someone in custody unless you have strong grounds to believe that they pose a danger to themselves or to officers.”
The Supreme Court has ruled that strip searches are never justified when the arrest is unlawful, as Salvati is alleging his was. Canada's highest court has also ruled that strip searches conducted to punish or humiliate are always unreasonable and that they violate one's Charter rights when carried out without a compelling reason.
A Supreme Court judge has also said that strip searches may be justified when prisoners are being moved into cells with other prisoners, to ensure no weapons or harmful objects are being concealed. But for Salvati, this was not the case, according to his lawyer.
“In fact, Sean was put in a single-person cell,” said Paul Quick, who also points to video footage that shows Salvati being held in an unoccupied single-person cell. “I would not count that as general population, in terms of being a basis for conducting a strip search.”
While stressing that he has not heard the police response to the allegations, Scot Wortley, a University of Toronto criminologist who studies policing, says he “found it a little unusual that (Salvati) seemed to have been paraded in front of the police headquarters and left in a cell naked. That does not seem to be legally relevant.”
According to Wortley, considering the fact that this was a public intoxication arrest and charges were allegedly not filed, police were likely not worried about concealed drugs or weapons.
Instead, he said, this could be a case of strip searches being used to humiliate individuals, as a means to demonstrate power and authority over someone and teach them respect.
Full Article
Source: Toronto Star
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