Skip to content

Victim alleges car accident led to police beating

BY KEITH LACEY [email protected] A Sudbury man with no history of violence says he is a victim of police brutality. Haddlam Robinson, 45, tearfully testified how a minor vehicle collision turned violent on Feb. 5, 2003.
BY KEITH LACEY

A Sudbury man with no history of violence says he is a victim of police brutality.

Haddlam Robinson, 45, tearfully testified how a minor vehicle collision turned violent on Feb. 5, 2003.

The police officers have testified they beat the man after he grabbed at an officer?s gun. Robinson, the father of several children, said he did not reach for any officer?s gun.

Robinson also testified his former girlfriend told him police coerced her into giving false testimony about a domestic violence dispute, which he says never took place.

Robinson has pleaded not guilty to assaulting two officers, resisting arrest, assaulting his former girlfriend and breaching a court order.

Robinson testified he was driving his stepfather?s car the day in question. The car malfunctioned causing him to sideswipe another vehicle. He then intentionally ran the vehicle into a snowbank in the Flour Mill to avoid causing any more harm.

The first officer on the scene, Const. Mark Kovala, was co-operative and did not say anything to him about using a shovel to dig the vehicle from the
snowbank, said Robinson.

However, things quickly turned confrontational when Const. Greg Smuland arrived a couple of minutes later, said Robinson.

Smuland told him to ?get out of there? and stop shovelling because the vehicle was in an accident and he shouldn?t be anywhere near his vehicle, said Robinson.

Smuland and a third officer on the scene, Const. Victor Leroux, started talking, and within seconds accused him of carrying a weapon.

They demanded he drop the shovel he was using to dig out the car, said Robinson.

Considering the circumstances, he couldn?t believe the officers were accusing him of holding a weapon, but he decided to turn the shovel over to his stepfather, who had arrived on the scene, he said.

He lit a cigarette and within seconds an officer tripped him and smashed his face into the ground, said Robinson, who then broke into tears.

?They started beating me,? he said.

He remembers very little of what happened over the next few hours until he awoke at police headquarters, Robinson testified.

When he woke up inside a police holding cell, Robinson noticed some of his teeth had been knocked out, his nose was broken and his eyes were puffed out. He had numerous cuts and abrasions to his head area, he said.

He didn?t remember being moved from the scene to police headquarters.

He still suffers severe pain in his head, has trouble with one shoulder and occasional difficulty walking, he said. He?s also sought psychiatric counseling because of this incident.

After the Flour Mill incident, an officer visited Robinson?s former girlfriend at her home. It resulted in her making allegations about an assault that never happened, said Robinson.

She has admitted to him police coerced her into making a false statement last May, said Robinson.

?She told me she loved me and she had never meant for any of this to happen,? said Robinson.

They met and had consensual sex three times last May, despite a bail condition he not associate with her, said Robinson.

He wrote down the dates they met on a piece of paper he kept believing Heneault might change her story with his trial approaching, said Robinson.
The three officers involved in the case have testified Robinson refused to listen to a request to leave the area so police could continue their investigation.

They said they had no choice but to punch and kick at Robinson after he grabbed at Smuland?s service revolver.

In earlier testimony, Leroux testified he also saw Robinson grab at Smuland?s service revolver.

Worried Robinson had removed the gun, he kneed him in the side, while Smuland applied punches to Robinson?s head and a third officer controlled his feet, said Leroux.

When the defence lawyer suggested Robinson did not grab for the gun and checking for fingerprints would have confirmed this, Leroux insisted he saw Robinson grab the gun and the officers involved feared for their safety.

Const. Scott Mills testified he arrived on the scene at the time the three officers went from a standing position to bringing Robinson to the ground.
He never heard any words about the accused grabbing an officer?s gun, said Mills.

Robinson was verbally aggressive and did not co-operate in any way when he tried to place him inside his cruiser to bring him to police headquarters, said Mills.

At the police station, Robinson wouldn?t leave the cruiser and he had to drag him out. Robinson kicked at him and hit him in the head.

The trial is expected to hear from several civilian witnesses when it resumes. A new date to continue the trial has not been set.