Rescheduled sentencing hearing to begin for Mountie convicted of assaulting in-custody Indigenous man – CTV News
July 15, 2020
EDMONTON — A rescheduled sentencing hearing will begin later this morning for a Mountie convicted of assaulting an in-custody Indigenous man in 2017.
Const. Licio Soares, 35, was found guilty in May of assaulting 32-year-old Vernon Laboucan at the Slave Lake RCMP detachment after arresting him on Sept. 19, 2017.
The conviction comes after video of the assault showed the officer taking Laboucan to the ground head first before landing several blows to his head and back.
The soundless video was entered as an exhibit at his trial and subsequently first obtained by CTV News.
Const. Soares was to be sentenced on June 29, but the hearing was adjourned after Laboucan was unable to attend by phone after showing symptoms of COVID-19.
