Prosecutors failed to persuade a judge to convict an RCMP officer accused of assaulting a northern Manitoba man outside a hotel bar more than 3½ years ago.

Court of Kings Bench Justice David Kroft said the Crown didn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the force RCMP Const. Jeremiah Dumont-Fontaine used against Brian Halcrow in the summer of 2019 was unjustified.

"When I consider the overall circumstances, the nature of the forced used, and the characteristics of Const. Dumont-Fontaine, reasonable doubt remains as to whether [his] response was objectively unreasonable," Kroft wrote in a decision released Thursday.

The charge of assault causing bodily harm Dumont-Fontaine was on trial for has been dropped.

The case stems from June 6, 2019, when police were called to the North Star Saloon in Thompson, Man.

Accounts from bar staff, RCMP, the Independent Investigation Unit and interviews with Halcrow's loved ones paint differing pictures of what happened.

Staff at the bar, which is attached to the Thompson Inn, called RCMP over concerns Halcrow tried to go behind the bar and refused to leave the building.

Dumont-Fontaine escorted Halcrow, 50, from the bar. A fellow officer initially said Halcrow was first to throw a punch. The constable struck back twice in self-defence, according to the officer. But that description of what happened later came under scrutiny.

Halcrow suffered significant head wounds and required medical attention. He was later charged with assaulting a police officer and causing a disturbance while intoxicated.

Halcrow told an investigator with the IIU, which investigates all serious cases involving police, that he had no memory of the incident.

A member of Tataskweyak Cree Nation, Halcrow suffered several strokes in the years before the incident that caused his speech to slow down. He also had stability issues and was often mistaken as being intoxicated.

Seven months after the bar incident, on Jan. 5, 2020, Halcrow killed himself. Two days prior to that, and unbeknownst to Halcrow, Dumont-Fontaine was charged with assault causing bodily harm.

Family said Halcrow had become withdrawn following the incident and was troubled over the thought that he might end up in jail if convicted.

During the judge-only trial, Dumont-Fontaine testified in his own defence. Among other evidence he put forward, Dumont-Fontaine also had two RCMP use-of-force experts testify, as well as his colleague, who witnessed the incident. 

The Crown relied on video footage, with no audio, recorded inside and outside the bar, and IIU testimony.

Court heard Halcrow was crouched in a nook in the bar when Dumont-Fontaine arrived. Bar staff who testified described Dumont-Fontaine as "angry and upset" and "rough" when handcuffing Halcrow in the bar.

Dumont-Fontaine disputed that version of events. Justice Kroft said the bar footage viewed at trial didn't show any signs Dumont-Fontaine physically interacted with Halcrow or put him in cuffs while inside the bar.

Halcrow, who showed signs of intoxication according to Kroft, eventually followed Dumont-Fontaine out.

His colleague, Const Mark Sterdan, arrived right around then and followed the two as they all exited through side-by-side doors.

That's when the door Halcrow was using jammed, causing him to stop in his tracks and prompting hm to toss his baseball cap at Dumont-Fontaine, court heard. Dumont-Fontaine threw two punches at Halcrow before he and Sterdan took Halcrow to the ground, then cuffed and arrested him.

At trial, Sterdan suggested he didn't think punching was the best option in the moment, and that he would've instead restrained Halcrow.

Dumont-Fontaine maintained the punches were warranted and the situation was dynamic enough that he had to respond quickly.

Given the circumstances surrounding why he was called to the bar, the cap toss and Halcrow appearing angry when he struggled to open the exit door, Dumont-Fontaine said his experience led him to believe risk of escalation was there and that his punches were justified.

The Crown questioned Dumont-Fontaine's rationale for that force and his assessment of the risk level Halcrow posed, since he wasn't armed, the bar was mostly empty and the item thrown his way was a hat.

Video showed Halcrow's head snap back after the first punch, rendering a second excessive, the prosecution stated. The Crown also argued Dumont-Fontaine embellished or minimized certain details of the exchange.

One use-of-force expert engaged by the IIU found Dumont-Fontaine's use of force was unreasonable.

Two RCMP use-of-force experts called by Dumont-Fontaine found his use of force was reasonable. Among other reasons, they said Halcrow's behaviour seemed to change as he was exiting the bar and the throwing of the hat served as a "threat cue" that could've been meant to distract the Mounties, court documents state.

The Crown suggested both witnesses, as RCMP members like Dumont-Fontaine, weren't credible.

That point resonated with Kroft; he said RCMP reviewing its own personnel "undermines the objectivity" of those opinions.

Nonetheless, he also questioned the accuracy of the IIU use-of-force expert and wasn't swayed by the Crown.

"Overall, I am left with reasonable doubt about whether Const. Dumont-Fontaine's perception of risk was objectively unreasonable," Kroft wrote in his decision.

If you are thinking of suicide or know someone who is, help is available nationwide by calling the Canada Suicide Prevention Service toll-free at 1-833-456-4566, 24 hours a day, or texting 45645. (The text service is available from 4 p.m. to midnight Eastern time).

If you feel your mental health or the mental health of a loved one is at risk of an immediate crisis, call 911.