The preliminary hearing for the Toronto police officer and his brother accused in the severe beating of Black teen Dafonte Miller began Tuesday in an Oshawa courtroom.Const. Michael Theriault and his younger brother, Christian Theriault, are each accused of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in the severe beating of Miller, then 19, on a residential Whitby street in 2016. Michael Theriault was off-duty at the time.The brothers are also charged with public mischief, allegedly for misleading police investigators after the incident.The injuries suffered by Miller in the wake of the alleged assault included severe damage to his left eye, requiring surgical removal, a broken orbital bone, a broken nose and a fractured wrist.The evidence heard at the preliminary hearing, scheduled through the week, is covered by a court-ordered publication ban.Kingsley Gilliam, with the Black Action Defence Committee, told reporters outside court Tuesday that he and other members of the group were attending in support of Miller and his family.“And we are here to send a message to the Durham police, the Toronto police, the police everywhere. We will never accept this kind of conduct from them in a free and democratic society,” Gilliam said, calling the case unusual “in every way.”The high-profile case has raised questions about police conduct and transparency since the Theriault brothers were charged in July 2017.Summoned to the scene on the night of the incident, Durham Regional Police initially charged the severely beaten Miller with assault with a weapon, theft under $5,000 and possession of a small amount of marijuana — charges later withdrawn by the Crown.The charges against the Theriault brothers only came about months later — after Miller’s lawyer Julian Falconer contacted the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontario’s civilian police watchdog, initiating a criminal investigation.The SIU had not been contacted in the wa ...
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