Charges against a popular Edmonton comedian for assaulting a local police officer were withdrawn in Jasper Provincial Court, May 26.
Instead Lars Callieou was sentenced to 12 months probation for assaulting his girlfriend at the time.
According to Christine Palmer, the crown prosecutor, on May 3, 2015, Jasper police on bike patrol saw Callieou yelling at his then girlfriend and stopped to intervene.
According to the facts read in court, both parties had been drinking at the time of the incident when Callieou pushed his girlfriend from behind causing her to fall to the ground.
The details about the alleged assault against the police officer were not made public because the charges were withdrawn.
According to Brandy Shaw, the chief crown prosecutor in Hinton, the charge was withdrawn because of a charter issue relating to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Obviously we’re not able to proceed on charges if they don’t meet the requirements under Alberta’s justice policy,” said Shaw, adding it would also depend on whether there was a reasonable likelihood of conviction and if it was in the public’s interest.
RCMP Sgt. Rick Bidaisee said he trusts and supports the crown in her decision and emphasized that the detachment has a healthy relationship with the crown prosecutor’s office.
At the time of the incident, Callieou was on an 18-month probation order after he pled guilty in November 2013 to punching fellow comedian Welby Santos multiple times on stage in the Century Casino on June 2, 2011.
According to the Edmonton Journal, Callieou is one of the top comedians in Alberta and has opened for comedians such as Joan Rivers and Bob Saget.
Despite breaching his probation order, the crown withdrew an additional charge for failing to comply with his first probation order.
The crown asked Judge D.C. Purvis to consider a 12-month suspended sentence.
Michael Andrawis, Callieou’s lawyer, described his client’s actions as “impulsive” and “relatively minor” and said his client was “extremely remorseful.”
“It was a big misunderstanding, one that I have regretted everyday since,” said Callieou as be broke down into tears.
“I’m truly sorry.”
Andrawis asked the judge to consider a conditional discharge.
The judge acknowledged the assault was relatively minor, but said because he was on probation for another assault when the incident occurred there were aggravating circumstances.
He also rejected the argument that because Callieou was drinking it was a mitigating factor and emphasized that drinking is an aggravating factor.
Had the crown asked for a stiffer sentence, including jail time, the judge said he would have likely jailed the accused.
“It is not the sentence I would have imposed,” said Purvis, about the non-custodial sentence asked by the crown.
In addition to 12-months probation, Callieou must also keep the peace and be of good behavior, regularly report to a probation officer, have no contact with his ex-girlfriend either directly or indirectly and abstain from using alcohol or drugs.
Paul Clarke [email protected]
