Court rejects Lafleur appeal in lawsuit over arrest in 2008

Guy Lafleur might have been a prolific goal scorer with the Montreal Canadiens, but he was shut out on Friday by the Quebec Court of Appeal, which rejected his request to reverse a lower court decision denying him financial compensation for his arrest by the Montreal police several years ago.

In 2008, Lafleur filed the lawsuit, in Quebec Superior Court, seeking $2 million from a prosecutor, who decided to charge him with having lied while testifying under oath, and a Montreal police officer who worked on the case.

He claimed his Jan. 31, 2008 arrest, covered by many media, harmed his reputation and affected his ability to make corporate endorsements. He also claimed the arrest was intended to intimidate him while the offence he was accused of could have been handled through a summons.

Lafleur, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame who scored 560 goals during his NHL career, was alleged to have lied, in September 2007, while testifying at a bail hearing for his son Mark, who was charged with 21 Criminal Code offences including assault, forcible confinement and dangerous driving.

The former Hab was convicted of having provided contradictory testimony but that decision was reversed by the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2010.

The $2-million civil suit continued until Sept. 29, 2015, when a Superior Court judge ruled that Lafleur’s arguments had no merits and that his claims that the prosecutor and police officer were “on power trips” had no foundation.

The judge in that case set a limit of the damages Lafleur could claim at $750,000.

The retired hockey player was also seeking compensation for punitive and moral damages.

In the six-page decision released on Friday, the Quebec Court of Appeal determined that “the conclusions on the facts by the judge in the first trial contested by (Lafleur) are amply supported by the evidence presented during the trial.”