Case information

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Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Crown law — Crown liability — Tort — Inmates — Inmate incompatibility — Admissions and Discharge manager at detention centre did not consider inmate incompatibility when deciding inmate’s placement — Inmate placed on unit with member of rival gang — Corrections officers had no visual oversight of unit due to unit configuration — Whether the Crown’s immunity from liability for reasonable policy choices applies when determining the standard of care owed by prison officials in the complex institutional context of a pre-trial detention centre.

In 2004, a cross-disciplinary committee struck by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services made several recommendations in respect of housing persons involved or affiliated with gangs or terrorist groups. No formal policy or protocol was ever implemented by the Ministry, but various institutions introduced policies on almost an ad hoc basis. In July 2008, the Toronto Jail (the “Don Jail”) began numerical balancing of members of the Security Threat Group (“STG”). That group was largely made up of gang members. Where possible, members of the same gang were to be dispersed throughout the jail and housed on separate units. When Mr. Walters was admitted, the Admitting and Discharge Manager placed Mr. Walters based only on numerical balancing. He considered the type of STG the inmates represented and other factors to be outside his mandate. Mr. Walters’ Offender Tracking Information System (“OTIS”) record informed the Admitting and Discharge Department staff of Mr. Walters’ membership in a gang called the Malvern Crew, but did not contain a non-association alert.

The Malvern Crew was engaged in an ongoing turf war with “the Galloway Boyz”. One of the other inmates housed on the unit Mr. Walters was assigned to was either the leader or a senior functionary of the Galloway Boyz. He was charged with attempted murder of a member of the Malvern Crew. His OTIS record also provided his gang affiliation but no non-association alert. On the evening of November 19, 2008, Mr. Walters was attacked and severely beaten. After the beating, an inmate summoned a custodial officer. Mr. Walters was hospitalized in an acute care facility until early May 2009, then remained at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute for 16 further months. He suffers from permanent brain damage, hemiplegia and acute aphasia.

The trial judge awarded damages to Mr. Walters and Pearline Samuda, minus 15 per cent for contributory negligence. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.