A contempt charge against the RCMP is now in the hands of a Northwest Territories Supreme Court judge.

The RCMP were charged after a Yellowknife officer mistakenly released a man charged with assault.

In an affidavit filed with the court, Constable Ryan Gillis says he was working at RCMP headquarters in Yellowknife when Paulo Lamvu walked in last month and said he'd heard there was a warrant out for his arrest.

Gillis says he did the required searches and discovered Lamvu was charged with assault causing bodily harm in 2010 after he allegedly beat a man unconscious for calling him by a racial slur.

Gillis also found the warrant had been issued more than two years ago, after Lamvu failed to attend his own trial because he was in Africa.

Gillis released Lamvu with a summons to appear in territorial court later that month.

The problem is that at the bottom of the warrant for Lamvu's arrest is a note that says, if apprehended, Lamvu should be kept in custody and brought before a Supreme Court Justice.

In addition, Lamvu’s charges are to be heard in the N.W.T.’s Supreme Court not the Territorial Court.

In the affidavit, Gillis apologizes and admits he made a mistake when he didn't read the fine print on the arrest warrant.

Lamvu is scheduled to appear in Supreme Court on Sept. 29.

No word yet on when a decision will be made on the charge of contempt against the RCMP.