A provincial court judge in Halton has taken on police in the region, releasing two bold rulings in less than a month rebuking officers for excessive force.

One officer, Const. Erich Paroshy, who works out of Halton’s Burlington division, is named in both unrelated cases — one of which resulted in a man’s broken arm and the other with a man pepper sprayed in the face.

In both rulings, Ontario Court Justice Lesley Baldwin came down hard on the officers and requested the Crown send a copy of her reasons to Halton’s police chief, Gary Crowell, “for appropriate review and action.” In the first ruling, she requested the OPP regional supervisor receive a copy as well as the province’s police watchdog.

The first judgment prompted a baiting public challenge from police association president Duncan Foot, slamming the judge for her decision in a letter to a local paper.

The first ruling was released Aug. 19 and the second, on Sept. 8.

In the first, Baldwin acquitted Kyle Davidson of assaulting a peace officer, resisting arrest and being intoxicated in public in connection with a June 2009 arrest.

Police believed the 26-year-old had kicked at the police cruiser of OPP Const. Ryan Cox, who testified that upon approaching the accused he responded by saying “F--- you.” Davidson told the Star he swore at the officer only when he was on the ground.

In the struggle to arrest him, Davidson’s left arm was fractured by Const. Paroshy, who arrived on the scene afterwards to assist.

“I do find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Officer Paroshy used excessive force and broke Kyle Davidson’s arm in this case,” said Justice Baldwin in her 16-page ruling, making clear that “contempt of cop” is not a justification for an arrest.

Davidson said he has read the ruling “like 75 times” and added that he “feels absolutely vindicated. I really doubted the system.”

Baldwin went further in her ruling, calling police conduct in the case “harsh and callous.” She added: “I sensed no empathy on the part of either officer for the injuries Kyle Davidson sustained in this matter.”

The judge recommended both officers be retrained in the appropriate use of police force and that the Special Investigations Unit be forwarded her reasons.

Late last month, SIU director Ian Scott reviewed the original investigation into Davidson’s injuries, and the judge’s reasons, and stuck to the decision to not lay charges. Scott suggested Paroshy, assisting in what he believed to be a lawful arrest, was not excessive given Davidson’s resistance.

Last month, Crowell said Paroshy acted “as we would expect him to” by coming to the aid of another officer making an arrest.

In a letter, published last week in the Burlington Post, Foot extended an open invitation to Baldwin, inviting her to attend a twice-yearly training session that includes a Use of Force component.

“Perhaps Justice Baldwin would like to find the time in her busy schedule to see what it is like to make a split-second decision in the face of battle, instead of sitting safely behind a bench, having hours or days to reach a decision, and then make disparaging comments about police officers trying to keep our communities safe,” said Foot, who was not aware of the second ruling when he wrote it.

In the Sept. 8 judgment, Baldwin acquitted brothers Bogumil and Stanislaw Dyrda of all charges, including assaulting a peace officer, stemming from an incident in January 2009.

According to court documents, Stanislaw was returning from dropping his daughter off at university in Ottawa when his car swerved off the road into a pile of rocks, deploying the airbag.

Constables Paroshy and Blair Egerter responded to a dispatch around 10 p.m. and alleged that when they tried to get information from Stanislaw he responded by saying “no.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

As they escorted him back to the cruiser, the officers testified they suspected Stanislaw was intoxicated and that he pushed himself away from Paroshy.

He was then placed under arrest, and as an altercation ensued, Paroshy alleged that Bogumil, having arrived on the scene after receiving a call from his brother, interfered by pulling off his bulletproof vest.

Stanislaw was punched by the officers, taken to the ground by Egerter and pepper-sprayed by Paroshy.

The brothers said that Stanislaw was not intoxicated, but exhausted from driving 17 hours and disoriented from the car crash; also, that Bogumil was trying to diffuse the situation by offering to translate for his brother, who speaks little English. He denied trying to take off Paroshy’s vest.

“Their duty as officers was to determine if this man needed some help. Help was not what Stanislaw Dyrda got that evening. He got beaten,” said Justice Baldwin in a 32-page ruling. “At the end of this long trial, it was clear that this case involved the excessive use of police force.”

Baldwin rejected the officers’ evidence that they smelled alcohol, noting “this important piece of information was not even recorded in Officer Egerter’s notebook.” She also questioned Paroshy’s testimony about the vest.

The Dyrda brothers’ defence lawyer, Joseph Bloomenfeld, said Baldwin’s rulings “exhibited great care and thoughtfulness” and took “courage.”

“She had the strength to write a judgment that’s going to . . . impact on people that she deals with all the time,” he said, referring to police officers’ role in court cases.

Bloomenfeld added he believes the judgment has weight because of Baldwin’s hands-on work with police as a former Crown attorney.

Reached Tuesday, Halton police responded by saying they were aware of Baldwin’s latest judgment involving two of their officers.

“We treat each and every incident on its own merit, and take appropriate action as required. Our Professional Standards Bureau is conducting an investigation into our officer’s actions in this particular case,” said police spokesman Dave Cross.

Foot said it was not appropriate to comment on the latest ruling because of the internal investigation. “However, I do want to state that I stand right beside Const. Paroshy and that this association will support him with whatever means are necessary,” he said, adding that the association also supports officer Egerter.