by Kabir Joshi-Vijayan

On the evening of May 5th 2010, 18-year old Junior Alejandro Manon was driving with a friend near Keele & Steeles when he was pulled over for expired plates. On probation and not allowed behind the wheel of a car, Junior fled impending arrest.

Thirteen minutes later his bruised, broken and bloodied body lay slumped without vital signs at the feet of seven officers.
A Coroner’s Inquest into the case was launched on January 16th, mandatory with any death-in-police-custody case—but admittedly an impotent and toothless charade that, as declared by cop and coroner’s counsels alike, is “fact finding, not fault finding.”

In other words, no matter how clear it becomes that an unarmed teen was violently murdered, his executioners will face neither charges nor condemnation. That ship sailed when the Special Investigations Unit (the provincial body that decides whether to lay charges when cops beat, shoot, run over or otherwise kill/seriously injure a suspect or bystander) completed its friendly inspection, and found no wrongdoing had occurred.

That’s the same verdict they’ve given in 98% of all cases.

Junior, they concluded, died from “positional asphyxia”- his chest was under too much pressure during his lawful arrest and he suffocated. Those ‘findings’ are the basis for the ongoing proceedings, held in the Coroner’s Office at 15 Grosvenor Street, where the jury is tasked with simply filling in the ‘who, when, where, how and by what means the death occurred’.
Permitted to make a few recommendations to prevent a future incident—tweak a Use-of-Force manual, add a training session. Reminded again and again to ignore that every testimony, exhibit and cross examination screams state murder and cover-up:

Constable Michael Adams and Sergeant Stuart Blower constructed a version of events seen only by each other. One where a snarling Junior “grinding his teeth and a crazy look in his eyes” shoves Adams across Steeles Avenue, before bolting toward a conveniently planted escape car, and when caught up to with swings “powerful blows” at the terrified officers, wrestling them to the ground while trying to bite them.

Officers who called for back-up as they were nearly overwhelmed by Junior’s strength, upon whose arrival they are shocked to find him without vital signs.

Every independent  witness who has testified so far; from a TTC bus driver, to a York  University security guard/retired OPP officer, to a couple passing in their car did not see the shove or the “powerful blows” thrown by Manon and instead, a “scared and winded” youth tackled and pushed face-down by the weight of the two cops.

The couple in their car closest to the scene saw Blower place Junior in a chokehold while Adams struck him, not just with his fists, but delivered “quick, successive and numerous” blows with the end of his radio.

They heard Junior plead,“Stop, I’m not resisting!” as the officers punched him several times in his ribs.

And the woman was terrified of intervening because of how the cops would react to her black husband.

Junior’s childhood friend Kevin Fauder witnessed furthest into the incident, seeing not just Blower and Adams attack but eventually four cops “hitting him. It looked like one powered a knee into his back.” Fauder, 17 at the time, also believes he and Manon were targeted by the cops in question, who recognized them from previous encounters, and did not simply pull them over coincidentally.

Even other police testimony disproves assertions stubbornly maintained by the two implicated cops. Three cops and a supervising officer who were called in after the foot pursuit and struggle stated to the SIU, and restated in court, that Junior was restrained face-down when they arrived, with blood in his mouth.

Both Blower and Adams claim they left Manon “on his side.”

It’s clear that many questions—including some asked by family lawyer Julian Falconer—will go unanswered at this inquest:

Why are the fractures wounds and bruises to Junior’s face, head, and ribs unexplained in the SIUs report and autopsy?

Why are not just the two, but the seven cops involved, free men/women (never mind still on the force), when the eyewitness testimony are grounds for murder charges?

Why was Constable Adams allowed to meet with four police officials and his lawyer before compiling notes on the incident (demonstrating the SIUs corrupted “investigation” procedures)?

Instead the Coroner’s court is more interested in further vindicating the duo already immune-from-prosecution.
While there is no possibility of professional or legal repercussions, police lawyers (that the pair share) have become concerned that even if the beating is successfully ignored, Blower and Adams could be still seen as responsible for the “positional asphyxia” since they clearly sat on Junior while he was face-down.

So they have decided to summon US pathologist Dr. Elliot Spitz, who un-coincidently enough has a long history of helping cover up murders (he was the defense witness at Casey Anthony’s trial, testified at OJ Simpson’s civil suit and was part of the Warren Commission on JFK’s assassination). His explanation for the death of a healthy 18 year old, seen by his family for the last time in a bloodied, broken and breathless state being loaded into an ambulance: a heart attack.

The trial continues…and so must the struggle that will clearly not be won in a courtroom.

Related posts:

1. Clear Police Bias at Alwy’s Inquest
2. Coroner’s Inquest for Police-Murdered Alwy Al-Nadhir to Begin December 2009
3. Police Murder Junior Alexander Manon
4. 18-Year-Old Junior Alexander Manon Beaten to Death by Toronto Police on May 5
5. Justice for Alwy Not Likely at the Coroner’s Inquest

issue #28, Local, Policing