Police officer charged with assault begins trial

Video evidence showed Ross yelling and displaying resistance as police dragged him to his cell. Ross said he could not recall what took place in the videos due to state of intoxication.

Video surveillance inside the cell shows Ross visibly upset – banging and kicking the cell door, while yelling. The video also shows Ross frequently peeking through a small crack in the cell door.

It is during this time Snell allegedly pepper sprayed Ross. While putting another prisoner into a cell, audio from the video indicates Ross yelled obscenities to Snell. There are also claims Ross spit at Snell through the small crack in the cell door. After not complying with Snell’s request to calm down, Ross was pepper sprayed.

The defense lawyer asked Ross if he remembered speaking to a female officer at the time but he could not recall the events prior to being pepper sprayed.

Sgt. Ryan Levesque and Cst. Darin Butcher of PAPS were also called upon to testify at Wednesday’s trial.

After being notified that Ross had been pepper sprayed, Butcher spoke to Snell over the radio. He asked Snell if Ross had been decontaminated after being sprayed to which Snell replied she would do so after he calmed down. Neither Ross nor Butcher testified that a decontamination was done.

As acting supervisor on shift, Levesque received a ‘use of force report’ late in the shift from Snell. Levesque recalled that he requested more detail in the report but did not receive them as Snell had already finished her shift by that time.

The prison guard on shift that night and a Saskatchewan Public Complaints Investigator were also called upon to testify on Wednesday.

The case will continue Thursday morning with the defense attorney calling upon Snell to testify.

panews@jpbg.ca

Follow on Twitter: @princealbertnow

by paNOW Staff

Police officer charged with assault begins trial

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