Question of fairness raised in dog attack case
Charge dropped against man brandishing flare gun who complained about loud music
James Keith Rankin, 75, was mauled by a dog named Riggs when he went to his neighbours’ house upset over loud music, brandishing a flare gun.
Now the dog owners are on trial for assault, and a defence lawyer is questioning whether police were too lenient with Rankin by dropping the charge of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose they had initially laid against him.
Final arguments in the case were submitted in writing this month.
The Crown contends the dog attack was “payback” for Rankin coming to the accused men’s property with a flare gun to complain about noise. The defence argues the men reacted appropriately to what looked to them like a handgun.
Addressing a court in Newmarket last October, defence lawyer Leora Shemesh suggested police treated Rankin differently than the accused men, and decided not to charge him with pointing an imitation firearm for “tactical and strategic” reasons — to increase the likelihood that her client and the co-accused are found guilty.
“A 75-year-old white man is seen as a sympathetic character,” she told the Star in an interview. “If the roles were reversed, we wouldn’t be here.”
Shemesh’s client, 25-year-old Ahmad Al-Maqdisy, is charged with aggravated assault alongside Stuart Walker, 33, who is being defended by another lawyer.
The dog was not seized or put down after the incident, and Walker and Al-Maqdisy no longer live at the Stouffville property where the incident occurred.
In late 2013, Al-Maqdisy and Walker started a towing and vehicle-repair business at the house, which they rented with their girlfriends. According to Al-Maqdisy’s testimony last October, he and Walker were working on the cars and trucks in their yard when Rankin appeared on their driveway with a black box in his hands. Al-Maqdisy told the court it was the first time he’d ever seen Rankin.
“I was working on my car and I heard yelling. I heard, ‘Turn the n--er music off!’ ” Al-Maqdisy said in court. Rankin denied using the racial slur when he testified earlier at the trial.
Walker is black and Al-Maqdisy is an immigrant from Iraq.
Al-Maqdisy said Rankin opened the box and pulled out what appeared to be a handgun.
“There’s no music playing at this point. . . . I figured it was the music (we played) earlier, because it was a black genre,” Al-Maqdisy told the court. “He says, ‘Turn it off or I’ll shoot you. I’ll shoot you in the face.’ ”
According to Shemesh’s written final arguments, Rankin told police he never pointed the flare gun at the men, but conceded under cross-examination at the trial that he had.
Al-Maqdisy then described how he ran into the house, yelled at Walker’s girlfriend to call 911, and returned outside as he heard screaming. Meanwhile, Walker began filming the incident on his cellphone, producing a series of videos that were seized by police under a warrant and submitted in court as evidence.
The beginning of the interaction, including the alleged racial slur, was not captured on video.
Al-Maqdisy told the court that he returned outside and saw Walker’s dog, a shepherd mix, run by, jump on Rankin and pull him down.
Al-Maqdisy testified that he’d never seen the dog attack anyone before and that Riggs wasn’t on the property to serve as guard dog.
One of the videos, shot from Walker’s perspective, shows Rankin walking back down the driveway toward the road, while turning back repeatedly with the “gun” raised and pointed toward the camera-holder. When the dog bites his arm and hauls him to the ground, Walker is heard yelling. “Point that s--- at me again! Good job, Riggs! That’s a good boy!”
In her written submissions, Crown lawyer Michelle Rumble argued that Rankin was no longer a threat at this point because he was walking away.
The video then shows Al-Maqdisy running toward Rankin, who is on the ground as the dog bites his body. Al-Maqdisy makes a kicking motion and falls onto Rankin. Rumble argued that the kick is evidence of assault, pointing out that Walker is heard yelling, “Beat the s--- out of him!” and “Punch him in the f---ing face, man!”
In court, Al-Maqdisy said he feared for his safety and wanted to kick the “gun” from Rankin’s hands. Under cross-examination, he insisted he wasn’t trying to strike Rankin, and strongly disagreed with that assertion when it was raised by Rumble. He said he didn’t punch Rankin and never intended to injure him.
Asked if he was trying to “teach him a lesson” for trespassing on his property, Al-Maqdisy said no. “I thought he had a gun, a big gun. . . . All I focused on was the gun.”
After a brief tussle, which is portrayed on the video, Al-Maqdisy said he managed to throw the gun away from Rankin. Upon seeing the orange handle, Al-Maqdisy said he had a “second thought” about whether it was a real gun. He learned later that it was a flare gun, he claimed.
Rankin was hospitalized with wounds to his body and large bleeding welts on his face, the Crown stated in written submissions.
Walker kept shooting video on his phone as police arrived and spoke with neighbours. Walker and Al-Maqdisy were then arrested and charged.
Rumble contended in closing submissions that even if the defendants can argue they acted in self-defence, believing the gun posed a threat, the extent of their actions was “not reasonable in the circumstances.” A verdict is expected Jan. 27. Rankin is suing Walker and Al-Maqdisy over the incident.