Officer on trial for hitting homeless man lied in his notes, Crown contends

The prosecutor for the trial of a Halifax Regional Police officer charged with assaulting a homeless man contends that Const. Gary Basso believed he could get away with it because the man was intoxicated — and that he lied about the incident in his police notes.

Basso, who has 17 years of police experience in Calgary and Halifax, is charged with assault causing bodily harm and mischief after an incident with Patrice Simard at Metro Turning Point shelter last winter.

During cross-examination Thursday, Basso denied the Crown's theory and defended his strike on Simard as a reasonable and proportionate use of force.

Senior Crown attorney Sylvia Domaradzki suggested that Basso was angry and aggressive when she says he violently pulled Simard by the shoulder to try to get him to leave the shelter.

Basso denied that, saying there's a difference between being stern and being angry.

Broken nose

The officer was called to the homeless shelter to remove Simard from the property after he was caught drinking in his bunk in violation of the rules.

Simard, who is in his mid-50s, was sitting outside the shelter on a milk crate when he asked Basso to take him to the police drunk tank, but the officer refused. The constable has previously testified that Simard became defiant at that point and would not leave the property.

Basso has said that he grabbed Simard's backpack and shoulder, then Simard fell "dead weight" to his knees and punched the officer in the thigh. The officer told the court he hit Simard in the face with the heel of his hand to prevent Simard from hitting him again.

Domaradzki suggested Thursday that if Simard did touch Basso's leg, it was minimal. Basso disagreed, characterizing it as a punch.

However, Basso did agree with the Crown that he shifted Simard's backpack so he could use his dominant hand to strike him.

Medical tests days later showed Simard's nose was broken. The defence has suggested Simard could have fallen and caused the injury to himself, possibly when he fell forward.

Basso said Thursday that he doesn't think he punched Simard in the nose when he struck him on the left side of his face.

Video evidence

The incident, which was captured on security video, shows Basso hitting Simard, who drops heavily to the ground. The video does not show Simard hitting Basso, but it does show Simard moving his arm.

The Crown's theory is that Simard was reaching for his backpack. Basso has previously insisted that if there was another camera it would show he was struck.

On Thursday, the Crown suggested Basso didn't think Simard would say anything about the strike because Simard was intoxicated. Basso replied that he thought Simard was only a three out of 10 on a scale of drunkenness.

She also contends Basso lied in his police notes, suggesting he didn't correct inconsistencies in them after viewing the video with a Serious Incident Response Team officer because he couldn't come up with a new story.

Simard, meanwhile, has previously testified he remembers little about the incident.

He told Domaradzki he can remember little beyond the officer telling him the police station is "not a hotel." He also recalled lying on the ground and being handcuffed.

He testified he had a "blackout" and the next thing he remembered was being at the police station the next day with an aching head.