Martin Cardinal
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Constable Martin Cardinal is an
Ottawa Police Service The Ottawa Police Service (OPS; French: ''Service de police d'Ottawa'') is a municipal police force in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OPS serves an area of 2,790 square kilometres and 1,017,449 (2021 census) people alongside several other police f ...
member who sparked national outrage on November 25, 2000, when an
amateur video Amateur film is the low-budget hobbyist art of film practised for passion and enjoyment and not for business purposes. Organizations The international organization for amateur film makers is UNICA ( Union International du Cinema Non Professione ...
taken by Darcy Peterson from his
balcony A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony is ...
showed an officer repetitively slamming a handcuffed and restrained female's head on his
police cruiser A police car (also called a police cruiser, police interceptor, patrol car, area car, cop car, prowl car, squad car, radio car, or radio motor patrol) is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols a ...
.


Video and scene of event

In November 2000, Darcy Peterson had captured the
amateur video Amateur film is the low-budget hobbyist art of film practised for passion and enjoyment and not for business purposes. Organizations The international organization for amateur film makers is UNICA ( Union International du Cinema Non Professione ...
from his Centretown balcony on a camcorder that he had purchased the same day. An unknowingly videotaped Martin Cardinal showed up as an assisting officer to a call of a woman causing a disturbance. The woman, Julie Cayer, 38, was found intoxicated and belligerent. She was pepper-sprayed, physically searched, and handcuffed before being left with Constable Cardinal who escorted Ms. Cayer to his
police cruiser A police car (also called a police cruiser, police interceptor, patrol car, area car, cop car, prowl car, squad car, radio car, or radio motor patrol) is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols a ...
where the video taken shows Cardinal bending a handcuffed Julie Cayer over, using his right hand to grab her hair and his left hand to grab her jacket near her shoulder. The video then shows Constable Cardinal forcefully slamming Ms. Cayer's head onto his police cruiser. Nearly six months after the tape was filmed, Darcy Peterson sent the video to
The Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The newsp ...
who decided to publish it on the front page of their daily issue for that day. The Citizen had cut frames of the
amateur video Amateur film is the low-budget hobbyist art of film practised for passion and enjoyment and not for business purposes. Organizations The international organization for amateur film makers is UNICA ( Union International du Cinema Non Professione ...
and expressed shock and awe over the events. When presented with the video, Deputy police chief Larry Hill immediately ordered an investigation and Constable Cardinal was suspended with pay. The video was broadcast nationally throughout
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
where Canadians expressed outrage and shock. On May 11, 2001, Constable Cardinal was charged with assaulting Cayer under the Criminal Code as well as excessive force and discreditable conduct.


Conviction and guilty plea

The initial court proceeding against Constable Cardinal was in front of Ontario Court Justice Kent Kirkland. Cardinal plead not guilty to the
assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
charge on Ms. Julie Cayer. Martin Cardinal retained high-profile defence lawyer Michael Edelson. Justice Kent Kirkland found Cardinal guilty of assault against Ms. Cayer. The
Crown Attorney Crown attorneys or crown counsel (or, in Alberta and New Brunswick, crown prosecutors) are the prosecutors in the legal system of Canada. Crown attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutor in proceedings under the Criminal Code and vario ...
asked for an enclosed jail sentence, while Edelson asked for a conditional discharge. Justice Kirkland sentenced Cardinal to a conditional discharge stipulating he perform 100-hours of community service. The
Crown Attorney Crown attorneys or crown counsel (or, in Alberta and New Brunswick, crown prosecutors) are the prosecutors in the legal system of Canada. Crown attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutor in proceedings under the Criminal Code and vario ...
appealed the sentence given to Cardinal on the grounds that it was too lenient. In turn, Cardinal's defense decided to
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
the conviction on the basis that Justice Kirkland had made an error in the reasoning he used to find Cardinal guilty. Four and half years after the assault and his suspension from the Ottawa Police, Cardinal went now before Ontario Court Justice Peter Griffiths for a second trial. On the eve of this trial, Cardinal decided to plead guilty to the assault charge. Ms. Cayer testified during the first trial that she didn't remember anything from the night of the assault aside from having her head slammed off a
police cruiser A police car (also called a police cruiser, police interceptor, patrol car, area car, cop car, prowl car, squad car, radio car, or radio motor patrol) is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols a ...
. Justice Griffiths found Cardinal guilty of the assault and ordered him to 75-hours of community service as part of a conditional discharge.


Reinstated to the Police Force

Nearly five years after the date of assault, and after pleading guilty to assaulting Cayer, Cardinal faced a two-day hearing under the Ontario Police Service Act to determine his future as a police officer. The hearing officer, retired police superintendent Robert Fitches ordered Cardinal be reinstated and ordered him to give up eight days of pay. Then Ottawa Police Chief,
Vince Bevan Vincent Thomas Bevan is a retired Canadian police officer who served as the chief of police of the Ottawa Police Service from April 2000 to March 2007. He led one of the largest police services in Canada and was one of only six Canadian chief ...
suggested that he wanted Constable Cardinal fired but claimed he had to comply with the Fitches decision. Former Ottawa Police Chief, Brian Ford suggested
Vince Bevan Vincent Thomas Bevan is a retired Canadian police officer who served as the chief of police of the Ottawa Police Service from April 2000 to March 2007. He led one of the largest police services in Canada and was one of only six Canadian chief ...
had no choice but to bring the troubled officer back.CBC News - Ottawa - Ottawa officer back to work after assault
The reinstatement was highly unpopular with the Ottawa public. An Ottawa Citizen online survey suggested only 19% of readers felt justice was served, while over 49% of readers suggested they felt that Martin Cardinal should face a jail sentence.


References


External links




Cardinal back to work after conviction



Victim of police assault outraged at officers new post
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardinal, Martin Canadian police officers convicted of crimes Police officers convicted of assault Living people Year of birth missing (living people)