OPP and Thunder Bay police succeeded in having some, however not all, claims in opposition to them dismissed
THUNDER BAY — A decide has dominated that sure claims filed in opposition to Ontario Provincial Police and Thunder Bay police in a lawsuit by former Thunder Bay mayor Keith Hobbs and his spouse Marisa will proceed.
The 2 police forces argued for the dismissal of claims in opposition to them within the Hobbses’ lawsuit, together with false arrest, negligent investigation and violations of Sections 7 and 9 of the Canadian Constitution of Rights and Freedoms.
In his ruling on Monday, Justice Robert Centa allowed the negligent investigation claims to proceed, however dismissed the false arrest and Constitution breach claims on the idea the statute of limitations had run out.
“The law is clear that a claim of false arrest is presumed to be discovered on the day of the arrest,” the decide wrote of his choice to dismiss these claims. “The plaintiffs did not rebut this statutory presumption and I find that they commenced their claim for this relief more than two years after they discovered the claim.”
That, nevertheless, doesn’t materially change the lawsuit, mentioned Tamar Friedman, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs.
“My clients are very happy with the results,” she mentioned. “They know that all the claims of false arrest and the associated charter breaches were dismissed due to being out of time and not on their merits.”
“The false arrest and the related charter breaches were alternative causes of action,” Friedman added. “But the conduct that they related to are exactly the same as the negligent investigation tort.”
The movement was argued in Dec. 2024.
The sprawling multi-million greenback lawsuit introduced by the Hobbses and a 3rd co-plaintiff in opposition to quite a few people and events arose from a virtually three year-long felony case, wherein they had been charged with extortion. All three had been acquitted in Feb. 2020 following a 15-day trial in November 2019.
Keith and Marisa Hobbs served discover of their mixed $12.5 million swimsuit in September 2020 alleging quite a few claims in opposition to the police and others, together with negligent investigation, malicious prosecution, defamation, harassment, intentional infliction of psychological struggling, and extra. The Hobbses’ co-plaintiff — referred to in Centa’s selections as M.V. because of a publication ban — filed their swimsuit in 2022 with each actions being addressed collectively.
The decide dominated that the plaintiffs’ claims of negligent investigation had been filed inside the applicable size of time, saying that, in contrast to the opposite claims, the clock on the negligent investigation claims began on the Feb. 2020 date of felony acquittal, not the 2017 arrest date.
The decide additionally dominated that the claims of negligent investigation meet a major sufficient threshold that listening to them over the course of a trial is warranted.
With this ruling on the police forces’ movement to dismiss accomplished, the lawsuit now strikes into the proof discovery section, Friedman mentioned, including that’s anticipated to begin in Could and final a number of weeks.
“This case is unique; it has a lot of defendants,” she mentioned. “It’ll take some time.”
Newswatch has requested remark from the OPP. A spokesperson for the Thunder Bay Police Service mentioned that the drive cannot remark publicly right now as a result of it is an ongoing authorized matter.
