Mike McIntyre (Winnipeg Free Press) – A man who claims he was attacked by two Manitoba RCMP officers says he did nothing to provoke the incident, which left him battered and bruised.
Conley Papineau took the witness stand Tuesday to describe the alleged beating he suffered in October 2008 in the community of Traverse Bay, about 120 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
Cpl. Jeffrey Thomas Moyse, 42, and Const. Trevor Kyle Ens, 31, have pleaded not guilty to assault. Both are expected to testify on Wednesday in a Winnipeg courtroom.
Papineau, 22, said he was punched in the face and stomach, kicked in the head and repeatedly thrown around by Moyse after being confronted in a bar parking lot. He said Moyse and Ens then threw him in the back of their police car, stopped on the side of a remote highway and continued the assault.
Papineau claims he was again punched and kicked — this time while handcuffed — and suffered a broken nose and several cuts and bruises.
“Moyse kept saying, ‘You think you’re tough’?” Papineau said. “I was wondering what the heck was going on.”
Papineau was never charged with any crime but spent nearly 24 hours in a police lockup before he was released. His mother and sister later complained about his treatment and documented the alleged injuries with photographs shown in court Tuesday.
Papineau said he didn’t go to a hospital because he didn’t want to spend “12 hours in a waiting room.”
Papineau had gone to the bar following a full day of work as a roofer, court was told. He met friends and claims he drank about three beer over the course of the evening. Papineau said he noticed Moyse and Ens in the bar, and they appeared to be looking for someone, but he initially thought nothing of it.
Papineau said he went outside and was confronted by the officers, who demanded he take down his hoodie and show identification. Papineau said he complied, then began walking back to the bar once he thought they were done questioning him.
That’s when Moyse allegedly struck him in the face with the first punch.
“It kind of caught me off guard,” said Papineau. He said Moyse was “edgy, like he was on a mission… and pissed off.”
Once in the police car, Papineau said, he repeatedly asked why he was being arrested as they drove to the Lac du Bonnet detachment. “I don’t believe I was mistreating them at all. They didn’t tell me anything.”
Under cross-examination, Papineau admitted to banging his head against the Plexiglas in the police car on at least two occasions out of frustration. But he denied inflicting injuries on himself or being the aggressor with the officers.
Papineau admitted he was consuming alcohol that night on an empty stomach as he doesn’t believe he’d had anything to eat throughout the day.
Manitoba Justice notified RCMP in January 2010 that charges were recommended following a lengthy investigation. The officers were transferred to other RCMP units after their arrests.
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