A Toronto police officer has been found guilty of assault in the beating of a young Black man more than three years ago, but his brother has been acquitted.
Const. Michael Theriault and his brother Christian have also both been acquitted of obstruction of justice.
The Theriaults had pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault and obstruction of justice in relation to the Dec. 28, 2016, incident and its aftermath.
The judge-alone trial has heard Michael Theriault was off duty at the time, and Ontario Superior Court Justice Joseph Di Luca delivered his verdict today by videoconference.
Prosecutors alleged the brothers chased Dafonte Miller in the early hours of the morning, cornering the then-19-year-old between two homes in Whitby, Ont. and beating him so badly with a pipe that his left eye burst.
Defence lawyers argued the brothers caught Miller and his friends breaking into a vehicle and acted out of self-defence, alleging Miller was the one wielding a pipe.