Judge denies injunction in police officer's lawsuit over documentary

It's a court battle that will turn on which of two monosyllabic words was used by a police officer at the scene of an assault of a traffic stop suspect.

And Round 1 Tuesday of Const. Chris Harris's defamation lawsuit against a Toronto-based documentary company, which has produced a video on Calgary police violence, went to the filmmakers.

Calgary Court of Queen's Bench Justice Richard Neufeld denied an injunction application, which would have forced LTM Calgary Inc., a subsidiary of Toronto's Lost Time Media, to edit its documentary, which will be shown online beginning Wednesday as part of the Calgary Underground Film Festival.

Harris's lawyer, Robert Hawkes, wanted the judge to order the production company to add a subtitle while the officer was talking to a recruit, indicating he used the word “should.”

The documentary initially was subtitled because of the poor quality of the audio, quoting Harris telling the recruit, who had just witnessed the brutal assault of an unarmed man by police: “Alright, what you saw here did not happen.”

In the defamation lawsuit filed Monday, Harris insists what he actually told the young female officer was: “Alright, what you saw here should not happen.”

But Neufeld, who listened to a recently enhanced version of the audio and said he heard the word “should,” not “did,” agreed with LTM'S lawyer, Tess Layton, that the issue and any damages that might be awarded is something to be determined at trial.

Layton said LTM stands by its belief Harris said “did,” which would imply the recruit should pretend the assault didn't occur, but even if it is incorrect it disputes whether the footage defames the officer. She said it will be up to a trial judge to decide what was said and what the effect of the publication of the documentary might have on Harris's reputation.

Neufeld said edits the production company has agreed to make, removing the subtitles and blurring Harris's face, are sufficient to allow the film to be broadcast.

“Even if the wording was inaccurate, which in my view it was, it cannot be said that the defences are not available to the respondent going forward,” Neufeld said.

“It is open to question and it is open to fair comment what Const. Harris meant by that phrase.”

The video is taken from court exhibits in the trial of three officers charged with assaulting traffic stop suspect Clayton Prince.

During the July 30, 2016, arrest, Const. James Othen jumped with both knees onto a prone Prince's back after Harris had ordered the suspect to the ground. Two other officers who joined in were acquitted.

Once Prince was taken into custody, Harris can be heard talking to the recruit about the incident, a clip included in the documentary, No Visible Trauma.

In an affidavit opposing the injunction application, LTM co-founder Marc Francouer said his crew used industry-standard noise reduction techniques to isolate and enhance Harris's voice.

“When we did this, we were left with no doubt that Const. Harris uttered the phrase, ` What you saw here did not happen,' ” Francouer wrote.