FFWD Weekly
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by Ryan StuttMelendez court date delayed by Crown
Juan Domingo Melendez, the SAIT student who alleges Calgary Police assaulted him during his arrest in late August, will wait another month to enter a plea on charges of obstructing and assaulting police.
At his third court appearance, held October 10, Melendez once again had his hearing delayed, this time for 30 days so the Crown could have time to receive and examine the police report on the circumstances of his arrest.
Latin American Community Association spokesman Don Wise calls the move a first, adding the Attorney General’s office essentially did what the LACA asked them to in a letter sent October 6 – to look into the alleged police misconduct before going ahead with the charges of obstructing and assaulting police currently against Melendez.
"What we’ve done is establish an important precedent that will guide all these cases in the future," says Wise.
This is welcome news, he adds, because LACA was originally told by police officials that the report would take a year or more to complete.
However, Wise says if the LACA isn’t happy with the report, they’ll insist upon an independent review. The association is skeptical of the impartiality of the Internal Affairs investigation.
"If we’re satisfied that it’s a fair run-down of what happened, we’ll keep out of it, but if it’s a fairy tale, we’ll say so at that time."
Meanwhile, Wise says the LACA will scale back its awareness campaign, and allow the case to be continued within the courts. For now they will concentrate on raising funds to help Melendez pay off his legal fees and student loan.
Melendez’s next scheduled court appearance is on November 15 at 9 a.m. at provincial court.
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