Durham police say allegations related to the arrest of a lawyer at the Oshawa courthouse are “criminal in nature” and they have referred the investigation to the York Regional Police Service.
Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) announced the move in a statement this afternoon that said the allegations by criminal defence lawyer Sudine Riley “extend beyond claims of misconduct.”
According to her lawyer, Riley was working in an interview room at the Superior Court of Justice in Oshawa after finishing a trial late on Jan. 23 when uniformed DRPS officers confronted her.
In a statement, Neha Chugh alleges her client was spoken to with “rage, disrespect, and contempt” before officers slammed her head into a desk and placed their knees on her neck and back.
Chugh said Riley suffered swelling and bleeding as a result of the alleged assault.
“She committed no offence other than being a Black woman practising law, being diligent about her commitment to the pursuit of justice,” Chugh said in the statement.
Riley alleges she was dragged from the interview room in handcuffs and taken to the courthouse cells in the basement. She was later charged with trespassing.
During the incident, Chugh said Riley’s headscarf was ripped off, her skirt was raised while officers handled her, her head was bleeding, and her eye was swollen.
Mackeda Bramwell at the Jamaican Canadian Bar Association (JCBA) said racialized lawyers have always faced micro-aggressions, but not to the degree being alleged here.
She said the question of “what a lawyer looks like” continues to be a topic in the courthouse where her organization has seen institutional racism.
According to Bramwell, the JCBA is calling for concrete steps to address systemic bias in the justice system.
Several other legal advocacy organizations have since released statements condemning the alleged incident and calling for the investigation to be handled externally.
Groups including the Federation of Ontario Law Associations (FOLA), the Criminal Lawyers’ Association (CLA) and the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL) are urging an independent body to investigate.
In a statement, CABL said it “urgently calls for a full and transparent investigation into this incident by an independent investigative body” and demanded accountability for the officers involved.
The association also called on court administration to ensure courthouses are free from anti-Black racism, gendered discrimination and police-sanctioned violence.
Karen Seeley, FOLA’s criminal law chair and northwest representative, said the incident has raised serious concerns about safety in court spaces.
“All participants that come to the courthouse, whether they’re individuals, lawyers or otherwise, need to be able to feel safe at the courthouse,” she said.
In an earlier statement, DRPS confirmed Riley was arrested and charged under the Trespass to Property Act in relation to an incident at the Oshawa courthouse.
Police said they take the allegations of misconduct seriously and have also launched an investigation.
DRPS said the officers involved have been reassigned to duties that do not include courthouse security while the investigation remains ongoing.