The trial for Calgary police Const. Alex Dunn, who is accused of assault causing bodily harm after arresting a woman in 2017, was back in court Wednesday.
Video of the arrest from Dec. 13, 2017, which was presented as evidence in court, showed Dunn throwing Dalia Kafi to the ground face first.
Kafi was being escorted into the arrest processing unit to have her picture taken.
Defence lawyer Cory Wilson presented closing arguments Wednesday morning to the judge.
Wilson said that Dunn was justified in his use of a “dynamic takedown” because he feared that Kafi had managed to slip off her handcuffs and was possibly able to use them as a weapon.
Wilson pointed to the fact that Dunn was mistaken; the video showed the handcuff had slipped up to Kafi’s wrist, but because she was able to reach and grab his wrist, Dunn believed she no longer was in handcuffs.
He argued that Dunn acted on an unfortunate mistake, and at that “split second of time, he did not think he had another viable option other than a dynamic takedown.”
Wilson also questioned the credibility of Kafi when she testified earlier in the week. He said she repeatedly refused to answer his questions and her testimony contradicted that of Dunn and Staff Sgt. Gordon Macdonald, who testified earlier in the week.
He said Kafi was hollering racist insults at Dunn and had been resistive and assaultive.
He said that the video does not show Kafi had reached up and grabbed his wrist, which is why Dunn believed she was no longer in handcuffs.
He also submitted that the charge become common assault, not assault causing bodily harm, because there was no medical evidence to suggest there was bodily harm.
Crown prosecutor Ryan Pollard submitted closing arguments Wednesday afternoon.
Pollard said there was no way Kafi could have physically put her hand on Dunn’s wrist and that it “made no sense.”
Pollard argued that “there’s no contortion or movement that is apparent on the video that would even begin to allow that possibility.”
He said Dunn had admitted that he had searched Kafi prior to this incident, and if he had truly believed he was in danger, he would not have proceeded.
Pollard said that Dunn “threw” Kafi to the ground and there was no evidence that proved a dynamic takedown was necessary.
He pointed to a lack of evidence in the video that Kafi could have possibly had a hand on Dunn’s wrist.
“What really doesn’t make sense is that he says she reached out with her handcuffed hand to his hand, which was on her shoulder… She could not have done that,” he said.
Judge Michelle Christopher reserved her decision on the matter.
Dunn was suspended with pay when he was charged in 2019. He has since started working with the Calgary Police Service again in an administrative role.
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