G20 lawsuit to name officers when arrested man sues police

The names of seven “John Doe” officers listed in Dorian Barton’s civil suit against the Toronto Police Services will soon be revealed, his lawyers say.

Barton, a 30-year-old cookie maker, suffered a broken right arm, black eye, swollen limbs and a bruised back when he was arrested near Queen’s Park during the G20 weekend.

The Special Investigations Unit has twice reviewed police actions in his arrest, and twice said it lacked evidence to lay charges — despite photo evidence and damning testimony from a civilian witness.

Now, Barton’s $250,000 civil suit against the Toronto Police Board and seven unidentified cops is his only remaining course of action.

“We’ll name the officers,” said Clayton Ruby, Barton’s lawyer, who expects to receive the information from either the SIU or the Toronto Police Services during pleadings in the civil case.

“They have to give answers, and they’ll give us the names of the officers.”

“It will pay off,” he said, confident in his client’s case. “But that doesn’t fix the problem of public justice.”

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