Windsor police officer and pubgoer claim self-defence in assault trial

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The two combatants who engaged in a bathroom brawl inside a Centretown gastropub in 2023 both blame the other man for starting the fight and both claim to be the victims of an assault.

Ontario Court Justice Juliana Martel will now decide whether Windsor police Sgt. Deler Bal will be found guilty of assault. Bal was off-duty at the time of the Sept. 23, 2023 altercation inside Ottawa’s Prohibition Public House.

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Bal’s defence lawyer, Mark Ertel, argued his client acted in self-defence when Donald Conner, a local man and a patron at the bar that night, stepped into Bal’s personal space in the men’s bathroom as a verbal altercation quickly turned physical.

The argument began when Bal inadvertently opened the bathroom stall, which was occupied by Conner at the time. The stall had a faulty lock, and Bal testified that Conner was repeatedly insisting that Bal go and check to verify the lock was broken, which Bal declined.

“Things cranked up in a very short time for no real reason,” Ertel told the judge during his closing submissions. Bal employed a “minimal application of force” when, he claimed, Conner stepped up within a foot of the off-duty officer and stood “right in my face.”

Bal used two hands to shove Conner back when Conner grabbed his hoodie around the neckline.

Conner had testified that the hoodie “came off easily” in his hands, but, on Thursday, Ertel produced the hoodie and had his client wear it in the courtroom to demonstrate how tightly it fit around Bal’s neck.

Bal claimed Conner “jerseyed” him with a “hockey move” by pulling the sweater over his head to obstruct his vision. Bal testified he began “flailing” his fists to defend himself.

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“Mr. Bal had reasonable grounds to believe force was being used against him,” Ertel told the judge. “(Bal) began to throw punches to extricate himself from that situation, which had just become a more dangerous situation.”

Bal claimed Conner, who was two inches taller and about 65 pounds heavier, grabbed Bal and lifted him off the ground, “slammed” his back against the wall, took him to the floor and began choking him.

Conner steadfastly denied Bal’s version of the fight when he testified earlier at the trial and denied that he was the aggressor.

Conner testified that Bal was the “sole escalator” and that Bal struck first, Crown attorney Hart Shouldice said during his closing submissions.

Shouldice said the judge should reject Bal’s claim of self-defence.

“There was no threat,” Shouldice told the judge. “Even by Mr. Bal’s own evidence, there was no spoken threat, no physical contact, no fighting stance or posture. The strongest evidence we have is that Mr. Conner stood close to Mr. Bal — about a foot away.

“Nothing in Mr. Bal’s evidence makes out a clear and present threat.”

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According to Bal’s own testimony, Shouldice said, “(Bal) hit first, he hit hardest and he did not end the altercation.”

Bal said he “wanted to punch (Conner) as hard as I could to break free of his grasp,” according to his testimony.

Shouldice countered by showing the court the 10-second clip of security video that captured the ending of the fight as the two combatants spilled out of the bathroom and into a hallway.

Conner is seen holding Bal’s sweater and “cowering” in a defensive posture as Bal connects with two more punches to Conner’s face.

Conner was not seen grasping Bal, he did not throw any punches in the bathroom and did not fight back in the hallway, he testified.

Bal said he threw the punches in the hallway to “gain time and distance” from Conner, but Shouldice argued it was Conner who created distance when he tried to retreat.

“The blows were entirely disproportionate,” Shouldice said. “At no point did (Conner) rise to the level of violence that Mr. Bal was using.”

Shouldice said that Bal suffered superficial “cosmetic” marks to his back during the fight, while Conner’s injuries were “serious and medically documented.”

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Conner was photographed after the fight with significant bruising and swelling to his cheek and had suffered a fractured orbital bone near his sinus.

“Mr. Conner had his face broken,” Shouldice said.

Conner was bigger and heavier than Bal, though the officer was in “excellent physical condition” and was professionally trained in hand-to-hand combat, Shouldice said.

Bal was first hired by the Ontario Provincial Police in 2004. He resigned in 2012 to work in the private sector before returning to police work in Windsor, where he was promoted to platoon sergeant in 2022.

Bal also served as a use-of-force instructor with the Windsor Police Service and was trained in de-escalation tactics, Shouldice said.

“There could not be someone the court could more expect to de-escalate things…to have better judgement (and) to do the right thing than Deler Bal,” the prosecutor said.

“He did not use better judgement, he did not do the right thing and he did not de-escalate.”

Ertel countered by pointing out “contradictions” in Conner’s testimony and argued Conner was downplaying his own role in the altercation.

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Ertel said Bal was being “manhandled” by Conner in the bathroom.

Bal “reasonably believed that he was going to be assaulted,” Ertel said.

“In my respectful submission, this is about whether the Crown has proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt and taken into account all the factors. Self-defence has not been negated beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Bal pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault and one count of aggravated assault on the opening day of his trial on Jan. 20.

Martel is scheduled to deliver her verdict on Feb. 20.

ahelmer@postmedia.com

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