Overview
- Superior Court Justice Clayton Conlan stayed first-degree murder and attempted murder charges against Joseph Richard Whitlock, Karn Veer Sandhu and Kulvir Bhatia.
- The case stemmed from the August 2022 shooting that killed Arman Dhillon and left a woman with life-altering injuries in Oakville, Ontario.
- The court found Maplehurst’s crisis team strip-searched Unit 8 inmates, zip-tied their wrists, forced them to sit in underwear facing a wall, and used cold air and pointed weapons, with some left in boxers for up to two days.
- Conlan wrote the operation was done for “vengeance” and “retribution,” and said the court must dissociate itself from such state conduct, meaning the charges will not be tried on their merits.
- A stay is permanent unless overturned on appeal, and the decision follows wider fallout from Maplehurst abuses, including an ombudsman probe and a prior ruling that reduced parole ineligibility for Linval Ritchie.