The trial of a Winnipeg police officer accused of kicking a man in custody heard today from a corrections officer at the Remand Centre who said the alleged victim, Henry Lavallee, was intoxicated and unco-operative when he was brought in.

Const. Ryan Law, 28, is charged with aggravated assault in connection with a November 2008 incident involving Lavallee, 48, who had been arrested with another man for breaking into a car in the city's Exchange District.

The Crown alleges that Law kicked Lavallee in the stomach so hard that Lavallee began vomiting and passing blood. He later underwent surgery for a ruptured colon.

Law has pleaded not guilty to the charge. His trial began on Monday but adjourned following Thursday's testimony, in order to give Crown and defence lawyers some time to schedule their next witnesses. It will resume sometime in January.

Joseph Pasternack, who was handling admissions at the Remand Centre at the time of Lavallee's arrest, testified on Thursday that he knew Lavallee from several previous arrests.

Pasternack said Lavallee's attitude would vary depending on his level of intoxication, but on the occasion in question, "he was decent with us … better than normal."

Pasternack testified it was hard to say how impaired Lavallee was at the time, but he said Lavallee claimed he had been kicked in the stomach by a police officer.

Lavallee was placed in a holding cell at the Remand Centre. Pasternack said when he checked on him later, Lavallee complained of pain in his stomach.

Pasternack said he informed medical staff, and Lavallee was eventually checked over and taken to St. Boniface Hospital.

Under cross-examination, Pasternack admitted that Lavallee could be obnoxious and manipulative of the system.

'Kicking and banging'

Dale Schwartz, another corrections officer at the Remand Centre, testified that he and Lavallee had gone to the same school together and lived in the same neighbourhood.

Schwartz testified that Lavallee appeared very intoxicated on the day of his arrest and was "kicking and banging" at the admissions desk when he came in.

Schwartz said Lavallee had complained about the police many times on the previous occasions he was brought into the Remand Centre.

A Remand Centre nurse also testified on Thursday that Lavallee was intoxicated when he was brought in, but not so much that she would refuse to admit him.

Donna Peters told the court that she also recognized Lavallee from many previous times he was brought into the facility.

"We grew up together in the Remand Centre," she said.

Peters told the court that Lavallee claimed he was injured by a kick from a police officer, but she did not examine him. Lavallee was not hunched over and was able to walk under his own power, she said.

Nevertheless, he was intoxicated, she testified.

"I don't know how much alcohol he had consumed, but he came in as an intox [intoxicated person]," she told the court.

Law acted professionally, officer said

On Thursday morning, court heard that the police officer in charge of most operations at the Public Safety Building (PSB) testified that Law was acting professionally when he brought the man into the holding cells.

Sgt. Ron Williams, who was responsible for observing every person who came into the PSB that day, said Lavallee was drunk when he and the other man were brought in.

Williams said he asked Lavallee a number of standard questions and told Law and his partner to put Lavallee in a holding cell.

Williams said a little later, he heard "kicking" coming from the area where Lavallee's holding cell was, and he told the officers to transfer him to the Remand Centre.

Williams told the court he heard no complaints from Lavallee or the other arrested man about how they were treated, and Law and his partner acted in a professional manner in front of him with their prisoners.

Williams also testified that he did not observe anything out of the ordinary at the time, although there were no video cameras of the holding cells, meaning there was no video footage of Lavallee in his cell.

When Lavallee was transferred to the Remand Centre, he complained to nurses of being kicked and began vomiting and passing blood, court was told earlier this week.

On Wednesday, Lavallee testified that after he was kicked, and before being moved to the Remand Centre, he saw a police sergeant but didn't say anything about the assault "because they stick to themselves."

Lavallee testified that he was put in a holding room at the Remand Centre where he passed out and was revived, but passed out again. He said he finally woke up in hospital.