Ontario Superior Court Justice Joseph Di Luca has found a Toronto police officer guilty of assault in the beating of a young Black man in 2016, but his brother has been acquitted.

Off-duty Toronto police officer Michael Theriault and his brother Christian were charged with aggravated assault and attempting to obstruct justice for the December 2016 beating of Dafonte Miller, in which the young man lost his left eye. Both men had pleaded not guilty.

After the verdict was delivered on June 26, one of Miller's lawyers, Julian Falconer said that police brutality toward Black and Indigenous people in North America is a "systemic, chronic problem."

Also, Falconer is calling for a Federal Royal Commission of Inquiry "to bring out the truth about beatings and killings of racialized and Indigenous people in police custody."

Dafonte Miller offered his reaction to reporters on Friday after the ruling. He said that he's grateful for the ongoing support he's received during the trial, and said he wants to bring "awareness" to others going through a similar situation to what he went through.

Miller also praised the progress that has taken place since 2016, when he was initially charged following the incident, to today, when one of the two men involved in his assault was formally convicted.

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders spoke in a separate press conference on Friday, where he said that there will be further investigations into Theriault's conduct, including a professional standards investigation.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/7108540/dafonte-miller-case-judgment/

Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc
Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ
Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB
#Toronto #DafonteMiller #Legal #GlobalNews