Calls for training after assault charges dropped against Hamilton man Tasered during a seizure

A Hamilton man who was slapped with assault charges after he suffered a seizure and then was Tasered by police in October 2022 is extremely happy the Crown dropped the charges this week.

The incident involving Marcus Charles, however, has prompted calls for more training on handling people with medical issues.

Charles, 27, was charged with three counts of assault, with police saying he concussed an officer after paramedics called officers to the scene.

The Crown determined Charles's actions were a result of "a significant epileptic seizure," with no criminal intent. 

"It's probably the best feeling ever… I did a dance, that's all I could say, I did a dance for sure," Charles told CBC Hamilton on Wednesday.

Charles said the charges left him unable to sleep properly and feeling depressed, and it took a mental toll. He said he's looking forward to the day when he can go back to what makes him happy — playing basketball.

"Just hearing the charge, like assault, it made me feel like something I'm not. As you can see, like, I'm smiling. I'm a happy person, a nice person, and they … painted a huge picture of me being a violent person," Charles said during a Zoom video call. 

"It could have just messed up my whole career if I didn't have the right [legal team] … behind me, if I didn't have all the people that were supporting me realizing that what they did was wrong." 

Man Tasered by police during seizure reacts after charges dropped

11 months ago

Duration 0:34

Marcus Charles, 27, was Tasered by Hamilton police in October 2022 and charged with assault. This week the Crown dropped the charges saying his actions were a result of "a significant epileptic seizure," with no criminal intent. The incident has prompted calls for more training on how to respond to someone with epilepsy or medical issues.

'Officers acted lawfully,' says Crown attorney

Charles's lawyer, Chris Rudnicki, said while he's "thrilled" and "very delighted" the charges have been withdrawn, he's not confident the police won't do something like this again.

"The Crown made the right decision here and I'm grateful to the Hamilton Crown attorney for agreeing that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction," Rudnicki said in an interview.

"But with the police, I have no reason to think the police would act in any different way. In fact, the early correspondence we had from the Crown was that they couldn't withdraw the charge because the police still wanted Marcus charged and that, I think, speaks to a problem in the Hamilton Police Service."

Hamilton police confirmed the charges were dropped Tuesday and shared the statement Crown attorney Warren Milko read in court. 

"The evidence does not support that Mr. Charles acted with the requisite mens rea [Latin for "guilty mind"] in relation to the alleged offences. At the same time, it is the Crown's conclusion that the officers in question acted lawfully and reasonably, based on the information known to them at the time," Milko said. 

"This is not a situation where the police acted outside their lawful authority. For the reasons stated, the Crown requests that the charges against Mr. Charles be marked withdrawn."

Charles said he wants to use his story to turn things toward the positive — to bring attention to the fact that people experiencing a seizure may not be aware of what is happening, they may be confused or appear as non-compliant.

As weird as it is to say, I'm happy it happened to me, so it shed light to a bigger situation.- Marcus Charles

"If this happened to me, it could happen to many other people. As weird as it is to say, I'm happy it happened to me, so it shed light to a bigger situation and that's not going to happen to another person that has epilepsy or just a medical issue in general," he said. 

"Maybe they'll just take their time to learn, understand the situation prior, instead of just ... going full-fledged and just thinking someone's [violent] all the time."

Lawyer says police actions problematic

Following the incident in 2022, Hamilton police spokesperson Jackie Penman told CBC Hamilton that police received a call from paramedics because of a "combative patient."

"Upon arrival, officers were met with escalating behaviour that included physically assaulting two officers," Penman said in a written statement, adding Charles also assaulted a paramedic.

"We appreciate that the individual's medical condition may have affected the events as they unfolded."

On Wednesday, Penman said Hamilton police respect the Crown's decision, and training for epilepsy has been incorporated in mandatory training for officers.

"Our officer's are called to respond to dynamic and rapidly evolving situations every day. While this was an unfortunate incident, the Crown acknowledged our officers responded lawfully and reasonably to the situation," Penman wrote in an email.

Rudnicki said more needs to be done to ensure first responders and public servants receive the training they need to treat seizures as a medical issue and not a criminal one.

Also, "more systemic training" is needed for the police, he said.

"I think there needs to be more work done around subconscious racial bias. All the police officers, all the paramedics in this case were white and my client is Black," he said.

"My client was not only manhandled when they were trying to get him into the ambulance, he also was [Tasered} as he was walking away from police. So, he had his back turned to them and they deployed a conducted energy weapon against his back, and that I don't think would have happened if he was white."

Epilepsy alliance shares how to respond to seizures

A spokesperson for the Canadian Epilepsy Alliance (CEA), which has supported Charles since the incident, said the organization was pleased with the decision of the Crown to withdraw the charges.

"We were relieved and happy," Trevor Gordon told CBC Hamilton.

"Ultimately, [we] wish it would happen quicker … but we're happy that the charges were withdrawn because he should not have been charged in the first place.

"When someone has a seizure, you should not hold them down in any way, because it's dangerous to hold someone down when they're having a seizure. Any sort of movement that the person is making when they're having a seizure is not in their control," Gordon added.

Gordon said his organization is not about blaming the police, adding what transpired showed there was a lack of training on what should happen in such scenarios.

"We're not here to throw the police under the bus. The police have a very hard job, but it's the fact that taking this situation and turning it into a teachable moment that when someone is having a seizure, you do not hold them down or in any way," he said.

In a news release on Monday, the organization said the Crown withdrew the charges based on training material provided by the Canadian Epilepsy Alliance.

"This case highlights the reason why the CEA encourages police forces from coast to coast to coast learn about and take advantage of readily available training currently hosted on the Canadian Police Knowledge Network, so that officers are equipped with the tools and knowledge to prevent a similar situation from happening in the future," said Laura Dickson, the organization's president.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.