The trial of a Windsor police officer charged with assault is now underway. Const. Kent Rice pleaded not guilty in February, after an incident was caught on camera at a Windsor residence on February 22nd of last year.
In the video, the alleged victim, 22-year-old Gladson Chinyangwa, is seen on the floor. Chinyangwa was one of three people who took the stand in Provincial Court Tuesday.
He told the court he arrived at the residence around 8 p.m. and was drinking and smoking marijuana with friends. He said he began arguing with a female tenant of the apartment and left the room.
He claims he was grabbed by two male friends who dragged him back in and a beer bottle broke in the process. Court adjourned as Chinyangwa began describing the arrival of police officers at the door of the apartment.
Earlier testimony explained how surveillance cameras triggered by motion detectors captured events on the night in question. Peter Coupe, the building’s operational manager, installed the cameras.
He explained that there is a one-second delay before the cameras turn on and also offered a possible explanation why there are time lapses in a video that appears to show a police officer kicking and punching a man lying on the ground.
Coupe testified, “If they stop and stand still long enough, it will stop recording.” Coupe also told the court he asked the victim if he wanted to press charges and the victim said no.
Under cross examination, defense lawyer Andrew Bradie asked if there was any effort to retrieve video recorded from other areas of the building. Coupe replied “No, because I didn’t think I needed to.”
Chinyangua will continue his testimony Wednesday, and is expected to explain how he ended up on the floor in the video.
The trial is expected to last three days.
