“Although grounds exist to arrest the officer and lay a charge, we are not satisfied that there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction,” said Manitoba Prosecution Services (MPS) in a written opinion to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU).

The opinion stems from an IIU investigation that began in April of 2019, after a bicyclist was allegedly assaulted after being stopped by police.

According to a report from Winnipeg Police the male had been cycling home from work around 3:00 am on April 12 when a police patrol unit stopped abruptly in front of him. An officer told the male that he matched the description of a wanted white male on a bike with a backpack. According to the victim when he refused to hand over the backpack, he was pepper sprayed by the officer and threatened with his baton.

The IIU civilian director determined that it was in the public interest to investigate the incident.

The investigators reviewed reports, social media posts, police audio recordings, officer’s notes, GPS data for the police vehicle and the WFPS medical reports. They also interviewed the male, two witnesses and four members of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

The IIU completed its investigation and forwarded the file to MPS for a review and an opinion on weather Criminal Code charges should be authorized against the officer.

In the written opinion MPS said the following:

MPS has reviewed the IIU investigation of [SO]. While it is always in the public interest to hold police officers accountable, there must also be a reasonable likelihood of conviction for MPS to prosecute a matter. In this case, after considering all of the evidence and expert opinion, we have concluded that a reasonable doubt exists as to whether the officer’s use of force was excessive. Consequently, although grounds exist to arrest the officer and lay a charge, we are not satisfied that there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction. When MPS is consulted for charge authorization in any criminal matter, we employ the same standard for proceeding with criminal charges.

MPS will not authorize a criminal code charge against the subject officer due to the unlikelihood of a conviction.

© News4.ca 2020