Nearly five years after off-duty Toronto police officer Michael Theriault assaulted Whitby man Dafonte Miller, Canada’s top court has rejected the officer’s appeal application, officially closing the long-running court case that garnered national attention.
In a brief decision issued Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an application by Theriault for the top court to hear an appeal of his 2020 assault conviction stemming from the Dec. 28, 2016 violent clash. The court does not give reasons decisions to dismiss applications for appeals.
Michael Lacy, lawyer for Theriault, said Thursday that his client pursued the application as he was entitled to by law and “believed it was meritorious.” There are no further avenues to seek to review the trial judge’s decision, Lacy said.
