ASSAULT CHARGE STAYED
Man who claimed false arrest relieved
Cory Charles sits on a concrete bench outside a medical clinic on Saskatoon’s west side, playing with a tarnished ring on one of his fingers and shielding his eyes from the late summer sun.
Earlier this week, the 35-yearold was staring down an aggravated assault charge — and the possibility of years in prison — laid in connection with a stabbing he maintains had nothing to do with him.
On Monday morning, he appeared in Saskatoon provincial court after being arrested for breaching one of his release conditions — only to discover that prosecutors had stayed the assault charge.
“Vindicated I don’t think is a very good word,” Charles said Tuesday, just over two weeks after he took the unusual step of issuing a statement to media in which he alleged racial profiling and wrongful arrest.
“I feel like they paid back what they owe me. They just dropped the charge. I feel relieved is all, really. I feel relieved that I don’t have to go through this proceeding any more,” he added.
Charles, who occasionally uses the last name Cardinal, was arrested outside Manchester Brew Pub, on the corner of Idylwyld Drive and 33rd Street West, shortly after 7 a.m. on July 30.
The officers who arrested him were responding to what has been characterized as an extremely violent stabbing eight blocks away that seriously wounded 37-yearold Ruben Martens.
Charles partially matched a description given by a witness to the crime, but said in his statement that he was arrested because he was walking by another man who was also getting arrested outside the pub.
He was subsequently charged with aggravated assault and remanded to the Saskatoon jail.
Carl Swenson, the private defence lawyer who represented Charles through Legal Aid Saskatchewan, has maintained from the start that there was insufficient evidence for police to arrest his client, much less charge him.
“I think somebody got ahold of the file in the Crown’s office and said, ‘We need to dump this.’” … The evidence on identification was just absolutely terrible,” Swenson said of the prosecutor’s decision.
“It kind of surprised me, but, you know, it’s way overdue — evidence-wise and all that, you know? I shouldn’t even have been charged in the first place,” added Charles, who was released on bail two weeks ago.
Saskatoon provincial court records show the charge against Charles was stayed just after 9 a.m. on Monday morning. Prosecutors have a year to resume proceedings if they choose to do so.
Senior Crown prosecutor Gary Parker said other senior prosecutors reviewed the file, determined there was “not a reasonable likelihood of conviction” and directed him to enter the stay on Monday morning.
Parker said he could not comment on whether the proceedings will be resumed, but added it is “quite rare.”
Saskatoon police spokeswoman Alyson Edwards told the Saskatoon Starphoenix previously that the force takes allegations of profiling and wrongful arrest seriously, and encouraged Charles to file a formal complaint that can then be investigated.
In an email on Tuesday, Saskatoon police spokeswoman Julie Clark declined further comment.
Charles isn’t out of the woods — he still faces at least one unconnected minor charge — but he said Tuesday he plans to file the complaint about his arrest, and is considering other legal action.
In the meantime, Charles said he’s happy to no longer have the “dark cloud” of a serious charge over his head, and hopes others, especially people who live on the street, don’t end up in a similar predicament.
“I’ll be OK, I’ll be all right … I just want to make light of this situation.”
It kind of surprised me …, it’s way overdue — evidence-wise and all that, you know? I shouldn’t even have been charged in the first place.