A Barrie Police constable sentenced Thursday on several charges remains in jail while he awaits the appeal of his conviction.
Jason Nevill was convicted on charges of assault, falsifying evidence and obstructing justice. On Friday he was sentenced to one year in jail but now his lawyer is arguing for his release.
In legal terms it is called parole pending appeal, so even though Nevill has been found guilty and sentenced to time in jail, he could be released while his case makes it through the appeals process.
On Friday, his lawyer was in court trying to convince the judge that Nevill should be released.
And according to his lawyer the math doesn’t add-up: the appeal process could take longer than Nevill’s sentence. So in the meantime he wants a judge to grant his client bail.
“If a person has a 12 month sentence they may serve 6 months and an appeal could take 9 months so at that point it’s no good hearing it because the sentence has already been served,” said David Butts.
The Barrie Police officer was sentenced to 12 months in jail, punishment for a brutal beating of Jason Stern in November 2010 which was caught on surveillance camera.
Butts appeared before an Ontario Court of Appeal judge in Toronto on Friday, trying to get his client out of custody, even if only temporarily. In making his case, Butts spoke about his clients’ humiliation, about how Jason Nevill will soon be fired from his job and about what life is like for police officers in jail.
“It’s a much more difficult environment for police officers obviously because they’re responsible for arrests of those in custody so when you’re in custody there is a greater percentage, possibly a high portion of people who are anti-police and that creates safety concerns.”
The crown dismissed the idea that Nevill should be granted bails saying his actions have already discredited police officers and granting him bail would undermine the administration of justice.
Ever since the surveillance video was released earlier this year, the Barrie Police Service has been trying to distance itself from constable Nevill. He is now suspended without pay and it’s expected he will soon be fired once the police services board concludes its due process.
Nevill is also facing a $1 million civil suit filed by his victim, Jason Stern.
The judge wouldn’t say exactly when he plans to decide on if he will grant Nevill bail. He would only say the decision would be made soon, which could be early to mid-next week.
