The attorney general of Canada has agreed that an Abbotsford inmate’s charter rights were violated by correctional officers during two incidents in 2022, but disputes there were any infringements during a third incident.
The statements were made July 13 in a response to a notice of civil claim filed in late 2024 by Franjo Perovic, currently an inmate at Pacific Regional Treatment Centre in Abbotsford.
In his civil suit, Perovic states that the use of force used on him was “entirely unnecessary and disproportionate” to the circumstances on March 17, March 18 and Aug. 17, 2022.
Perovic was an inmate at Kent Institution in Agassiz at the time of the first incident.
In his civil claim, he states that after he refused to have a “bedding kit” placed in his cell, guards grabbed him as he stepped out of the shower, forced him to the ground, handcuffed him, used pepper spray and kneed him in the face and back.
Perovic states in the court documents that he was then dragged naked through the courtyard, forced to stay in a shower that was too hot for 20 to 25 minutes, injected with medication and taken to Chilliwack General Hospital, where he awoke “with cuts and lacerations all over his body.”
He was later placed in isolation for five days at Pacific Regional Treatment Centre.
The attorney general’s response states that the incident on March 17 occurred when Perovic flooded his cell with toilet water; ripped up new bedding, a mattress and clothing; refused to lock up and blocked his cell door; and became assaultive towards employees, resulting in him being pepper-sprayed.
Another incident described in the lawsuit occurred on Aug. 17, 2022, when Periodic was held in his cell at Pacific for several hours because of a mental-health episode.
When guards tried to remove him from his cell, Perovic refused to leave and demanded to know why he was being moved.
The court documents state that he was then pepper-sprayed through a gap in the cell door. The door to his cell was then opened.
“The ERT (emergency response team) restrained Perovic and began using excessive physical force against him, including, among other things, kicking and hitting Perovic in the head, elbowing and kicking his ribs, and repeatedly striking Perovic with a baton in the arms, back and head,” the lawsuit states.
Perovic was taken to an outside hospital for the treatment of head and bodily injuries, the documents state.
The attorney general’s response states that the incident on Aug. 17 began when Perovic covered his cell in soap and water and was incoherent, the documents state.
They state that when the guards tried to remove him from his cell, Perovic “began to actively resist by biting and grabbing the CSC employees and their equipment.”
Both incidents resulted in Perovic filing grievances with Correctional Service Canada (CSC), which agreed that “the amount of force was not appropriate to the situational factors.”
The use of pepper spray and escorting Perovic nude across the courtyard on March 17 were not necessary, the decision stated.
In relation to the August 2022 incident, the CSC assistant commissioner determined there were “serious compliance issues on the part of the CSC.”
The attorney general agreed in its response on July 13 that “the plaintiff was owed a duty of care by the correctional officers, managers, wardens and any other CSC employees or agents with whom he interacted.”
“With respect to the incidents on March 17, 2022 and Aug. 17, 2022, the Crown defendant admits that the force used by the CSC employees breached the standard of care owed to the plaintiff.”
Another incident – on March 18, 2022 – is also part of Perovic’s civil claim.
The attorney general’s response states that Perovic was in a quiet room at the regional treatment centre when CSC employees arrived to administer his prescribed medication.
“He refused to comply and instead yelled and hit his door with his sandals. As a result of the non-compliance, (pepper spray) was deployed under his quiet room door,” the documents indicate.
After the spray was used, Perovic complied with further directions and was taken to an area where his medication was administered.
Perovic also filed a grievance in relation to that incident, but it was denied.
The attorney general’s response states that the standard of care owed to Perovic on March 18 was not breached and that CSC employees acted in a “proper, reasonable and conscientious manner and in accordance with the law.”
Named in the lawsuit are the attorney general of Canada, the CSC, the wardens of Kent and Pacific institutions and nine correctional officers, each referred to as “John Doe.”
Perovic is seeking aggravated, punitive, general and special damages, as well as a declaration that the guards breached his charter rights.
He has been serving a life sentence for the 2001 murder of a fellow drug dealer, as well as a 12-year sentence for the 2008 fatal stabbing of a fellow inmate at Kent Institution.
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