I'm in Oshawa where the trial of Toronto Police officer Micheal Theriault and his brother Christian Theriault continues. Dafonte Miller, the teen they are accused of beating with a pipe in December 2016, causing Miller to lose his eye, is expected to testify at some point today.
We are in a very large courtroom, which is now packed, pretty much every seat is full.
Dafonte Miller is expected to take the stand momentarily.
It's become very quiet in the courtroom. You can hear the odd sniffle, someone shuffling in their seat, or the clicking of a keyboard, but other than that, it's quiet.
Dafonte Miller is now standing in the holding box, wearing a black jacket, buttoned up, wearing a dark grey hooded shirt underneath. He takes the oath on the bible, and then takes a seat.
The Crown lawyer makes note that Miller may need to take occasional breaks, because he needs to administer eye drops periodically. Miller lost use of his left eye in the incident back in December of 2016.
Miller is now 22 years old, he was 19 years old at the time of the incident, when he was allegedly beaten by off duty Toronto Police officer Michael Theriault and his brother Christian Theeriault with a metal pipe in December 28th, 2016.
Miller says he lived with his mother and siblings at the time of the incident. He has no criminal record.
He is describing the injuries he sustained on that night, including the broken bones, damage to his eye. "I was in a lot of pain" he says.
He was taken to two hospitals, one in Oshawa the other in Bowmanville. He says he remembers pretty much off his time in the Oshawa hospital, but he "pretty much woke up" in the Bowmanville hospital.
Miller says he had to sleep every night next to his mother until February, because his eye would "bleed out every night" so his mother would have to clean it as he slept.
Miller says he was vomiting a lot at the time. Notes that he was drinking a lot of ensure because he wasn't able to eat solid food.
As Miller is talking about the details of his injuries and his difficult recovery, the Theriault brothers are both looking on from the table next to their lawyers. Both appear to be listening intently to what Miller is saying.
Christian Theriault is leaning forward in his seat as he listens to Dafonte Millers testimony. Michael Theriault sits more straight up.
The Crown laywer is now showing Miller photos of himself that were taken on the night of incident while he was in a Oshawa hospital. The photos are not being shown to the gallery in the courtroom.
The Crown laywer is flipping through a book showing Miller the photos, as he looks at them while sitting on the stand.
Miller says he didnt really know what he looked like on that night. Says he didnt really see it until he looked in the mirror.
Crown asking Miller when he noticed the bruises on his body, says it wasn't until he got home that he really started to realize
The judge asks Miller to speak up. Says he knows it feels like a conversation between him and the Crown, but that he needs to raise his voice so the entire courtroom can hear.
Miller says he had a fractured wrist, and nerve damage in his hand.
Miller says he thinks he will need another surgery on his eye, which he was so badly damaged in the incident, it had to be removed, but this next surgery wasn't urgent, so he hasn't had it yet.
Miller says, initially, his right eye was also in pain, and he was told there was a possibility he could go blind in that eye as well, but he recovered, and still has use of the right eye. The left one had to be taken out.
Miller says he still feels some pain in the left side of his head, if he doesn't put in the eye drops that he needs to on a regular basis.
Crown asks Miller about how his energy level is. He says his energy level is pretty much the same, but adds he is more careful about his surroundings.
Asked to describe his mental and emotional health, Miller says for the most part, he is strong enough to keep himself in the right place, but he has his ups and downs. But he says he really "didn't want to go outside at first" because he was shaken up.
Crown is now asking Miller about December 27th, 2016, the night before the incident. He says his friend AJ came over, the played video games, then AJ went home before midnight. Says he continued to play video games.
He says later that night, AJ called him saying he was with his friend Bradley, and that there was three girls who wanted to "link up with us"
Miller says he knew AJ because he lives in his neighbourhood, and he is friends with his older brother.
Miller says he had been friends with AJ for about 3 years. Would see him about 2-3 times a week.
Miller says on the night of the 27th, he left his house with his friends AJ and Bradley. They walked to his friend Noble's house, stopped there for 30-45 minutes. Says he hung out with Noble inside the house for a bit.
Miller says Bradley had arranged for them to "link up" with three girls, but the girls weren't ready for them to come over yet. Says he didn't know the girls.
Miller says, when the three of them left Noble's house, he was finishing up smoking, and playing some beats on his phone, saying they were rapping a little bit.
As the three of them were walking along, Miller says they encountered two men (the Theriault brothers), who were on their own driveway. He says one of the brothers began asking questions like if they are from the neighbourhood, and what they are doing here.
Miller says he asked why they were being asked these questions. He says at first the questions seemed casual, but he says he could feel the energy in the questions. He says at one point, one of the men said that "he is a cop, he can ask whatever he wants"
He says his friend AJ laughed it off, and they began walking away. He says at that point, he realized they were being chased.
He says he was still pretty much in front of their house, when he was being chase, he felt grabbed a little, but he managed to get away.
He says he didn't get a good look at who was grabbing at him at first.
He says he thought he was running the same direction as Bradley and AJ, but he realized he was running in a different direction. That's when he started to slow down. Says he could hear the two brothers coming up behind him. Says when he glanced back, he got grabbed right away.
He says he didn't notice if either of the two men had anything in their hands.
He says he was grabbed, ended up in a headlock, between the two houses. Says "the one with the longer hair had me in a headlock"
He says he was "feeling some hits in my back area and then on my head" when he was in the headlock.
He says he was in the headlock on the ground. He says he managed to get out of the headlock, and that's when he saw them both.
He says when he managed to get out of the headlock, he could see both men hitting him.
He says when he got out of the headlock, he managed to get to his feet momentarily, but then was hit by a pipe, and went back down to the ground.
He says he remembers just laying there, being hit repeatedly with the pipe by the "one with the shorter hair". Says after a while he couldn't feel it anymore. He says he told himself "I have to get up. I have to get up"
He says he was finally able to stand up, and he was being hit with the pipe by the one with the shorter hair the entire time as he was trying to get to the front door of the house.
He says has trying to protect his face with his right arm. He believes that's probably how he fractured his wrist.
He says as all this was happening, there was no real conversation going on. He says he was saying "whats going on" to the two men. He says all he can remember is them saying little swear words, but beyond that, doesn't remember them saying much else.
Crown lawyer decides to take a pause here. Judge says its a good time to go on lunch. Court in recess until 2PM
Court is back in session. Dafonte Miller continues his testimony. Talking about the moments when the Theriault brothers were allegedly beating him in the early morning hours of December 28th, 2016
Miller says he managed to get to his feet and make his way to the front door of the house, all while one of the Theriault brothers continued to beat him with a pipe.
Miller says he was trying to bang on the door to get some help, all while still being beaten with the pipe. He says he turned around, that's when he was hit twice in his left eye with the pipe.
He says at one point, he realized no help was coming, so he tried to get to another house, but only made it as far as the driveway of the home he was already at. Says he was leaned over a car, trying to protect his head from being hit by the pipe.
Miller says its at this point he tried to pull out his phone to call 9-1-1. All while still being hit by Theriault with the pipe.
Miller says he could see blood pouring out of his head and face onto his sweater.
The 9-1-1 call from that night is now being played over a loud speaker in the courtroom.
The Crown lawyer is now replaying the call, but pausing it at certain points to ask Dafonte Miller questions.
As the 9-1-1 call was being made, Miller says his phone was taken from by Theriault, as he had Miller face down on the ground.
Crown wraps up it's questions. Defence now beginning it's line of questioning.
Defence lawyer begins by telling Dafonte Miller he does not take issue with the fact that he was seriously injured, but says he has to ask difficult questions, some of which may question his character, so the full details of what happened can come out.
Court has adjourned for the day.
Defence will resume it's cross examination of Dafonte Miller tomorrow
Defence will resume it's cross examination of Dafonte Miller tomorrow
