Police officer on trial testifies hitting homeless man was reasonable

A Halifax Regional Police officer has defended his strike on a man outside a homeless shelter as reasonable and proportionate use of force.

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

Basso, who is on trial in Halifax provincial court, testified Thursday during his third day under cross-examination that he doesn't think he punched Patrice Simard in the nose when he struck him on the left side of his face.

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 all of those suggestions, saying there's a difference between being stern to get someone to do something 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.

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

Video evidence

Basso has said he made a judgment based on the information he had and his perception of the situation, comparing the situation to a domestic violence call.

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 insisted that if there was another camera it would show he was struck.

Basso has testified he had to be ready for the possibility that Simard could have been trained in mixed martial arts and suggested that might be why Simard was on his knees.

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.