Beric was found guilty in October of assaulting Derrick Weyman, after Beric struck the bleeding man with his baton and stepped on his neck.
Published Jan 16, 2024 • Last updated 45 minutes ago • 4 minute read
Ottawa police Const. Goran Beric was spared jail time Tuesday as he was handed a suspended sentence that includes 30 months of probation and 200 hours of community service for assaulting a man in his custody in August 2021.
“There is a real possibility this case has damaged public confidence in the police,” said Ontario Court Justice Janet O’Brien, saying the officer committed a “serious breach of public trust.”
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Beric was found guilty in October of assaulting Derrick Weyman, who was in an “extremely vulnerable” mental and physical state, the judge found, when the officer struck the bleeding man with his baton and stepped on his neck during the Aug. 4, 2021 takedown inside an Ottawa Community Housing complex.
The force Beric used was “not necessary, not proportionate and therefore not lawful,” O’Brien said in rendering her sentence Tuesday.
Beric told the judge he was “ashamed” of his conduct and apologized for the negative impact the case has had on his family, the victim and his fellow Ottawa Police Service members.
Beric’s defence lawyer, Karin Stein, had asked the judge to grant a conditional discharge, but O’Brien declined, saying the discharge would “send the wrong message (and) trivialize the offences.”
The officer’s employment status remains at the discretion of the police service, said Ottawa Police Association president Matthew Cox in a statement following Tuesday’s sentencing.
Beric served in a reduced capacity after he was charged and was suspended in October following the judge’s guilty verdict. He is currently on paid suspension while awaiting an internal affairs review.
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“The OPA was hopeful the judge would have provided Const. Beric with a reduced penalty,” Cox said in a statement Tuesday.
An appeal “is an option that may be explored,” Cox said.
“Suspension and employment status is at the discretion of the police service. Now that the criminal matter is completed, the Professional Standards Unit will conduct an investigation and it is the OPS who will determine penalty for Const. Beric.
“Situations like this are not easy for anyone and we as an association are here to support all parties involved,” Cox said.
Beric declined comment as he walked out of the Ottawa courthouse Tuesday.
Crown prosecutor Vlatko Karadzic had asked for a sentence of between four and six months, which would have included a period of custody, followed by house arrest and one year of probation.
O’Brien cited the nature of the assault as an aggravating factor in her ruling, saying Beric showed “no regard for the risk his actions had on Mr. Weyman’s wellbeing.”
Beric was one of five officers who responded to the distress call that night and one of two officers who engaged physically with Weyman, who was in a mental health crisis at the time and bleeding from recent injuries inflicted before police arrived.
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The judge found that Beric struck Weyman with his baton three times in the head, in an area that was already bleeding, within a 30-second span as the officer grappled with Weyman on the floor.
Beric then stepped on the prone man’s neck for two minutes and five seconds — a “reckless amount of time,” the judge said.
O’Brien cited the three other police officers observed “standing around” in the surveillance video as “a clear indication that Mr. Weyman posed no risk.”
Weyman said the assault was “dehumanizing” in a statement filed through his lawyer prior to sentencing.
“As an officer, he should help me, but he made me feel less than human by the way he treated me that night,” Weyman wrote.
In his defence, Beric testified that he used his baton and his foot to direct Weyman’s face away from his own in an effort to avoid the blood spraying from the man’s mouth.
Beric, the judge ruled, had time to “reflect and reconsider” his actions during the struggle.
“This was not a product of a momentary lapse of judgement,” O’Brien said. “There was time between the baton strikes and the two minutes… where Mr. Beric could have stopped using unlawful force.”
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At that point, the judge noted, officers had still not determined any basis for arresting Weyman.
Police eventually apprehended him that night under the Mental Health Act and he was released after being treated at hospital.
The judge said Beric, who was the senior officer responding that night, placed junior officers in a “compromised position.”
O’Brien further admonished Beric for authoring a “false” police report that “exaggerated” the threat posed by Weyman and “omitted any mention of striking him with a baton and stepping on his neck.”
In a statement Tuesday, Ottawa police confirmed Beric remains under paid suspension.
“Our Professional Standards Section is reviewing the decision and next steps will be determined in the coming days.”
As part of his suspended sentence, Beric must perform 200 hours of community service and must submit a DNA sample, as well as have no contact with the victim.
The judge imposed an unconditional weapons ban for the first nine months of his sentence, granting an exception after that period, when Beric would be permitted to use weapons “during working hours if required by (his) employer and used only in a manner required by the employer.”
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O’Brien said Beric expressed regret in his apology to the court and the judge believed he was sincere when he said he has learned from the incident.
She cited Beric’s previously “unblemished” record of 14 years as a police officer, with numerous commendations from the public and fellow officers.
The suspended sentence could be revoked and Beric could face jail time, O’Brien warned, if he were to commit any further offences during the 30-month probationary period.
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