MONTREAL — Giving someone the middle finger is a “God-given” right that belongs to all Canadians, a Quebec judge said when he recently cleared a Montreal-area man of criminal harassment and making threats.
In his ruling, Quebec court judge Dennis Galiatsatos wrote that not only was Neall Epstein not guilty, but the fact that he was arrested and prosecuted was a shocking injustice.
“To be very clear, it is not a crime to point the finger at someone,” the judge wrote in his February 24 ruling. “Flipping the proverbial bird is a God-given, Charter-enshrined right that belongs to all passionate Canadians. It may not be civil, it may not be courteous, it may not be chivalrous. However, it does not create criminal liability. .”
Police arrested Epstein, a 45-year-old teacher, on May 18, 2021, as he was returning home from a walk. Earlier that day, he had met a neighbor, Michael Naccache, who lived down the street from Beaconsfield, Que., and with whom he had had previous conflicts.
Naccache, 34, cursed at Epstein and threatened him while holding a power tool “in a threatening manner,” the judge found. Epstein responded with two middle fingers and kept walking.
Naccache alleged that Epstein also made a throat-slitting gesture and said he feared Epstein would come back and try to kill him, claims the judge did not uphold.
“On what basis did you fear that Mr. Epstein was a potential murderer? The fact that he would go for leisurely walks with his children? The fact that he would socialize with other young parents on the street? If that is the standard, we should everyone fears our neighbors are killers in waiting,” Galiatsatos wrote.
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The incident was the culmination of a series of interactions between the two men and members of their families. Naccache claimed that those interactions amounted to months of harassment, but the judge found this to be innocent behavior.
“For the complainants, the presence of young families outside is a source of contempt and vivid resentment that ultimately escalated into a criminal complaint against their neighbor,” the judge wrote, describing Epstein as a “loving father of two young daughters who did not They committed no crime.” any offence.”
He called it “deplorable” that whistleblowers “weaponized the criminal justice system in an attempt to get revenge on an innocent man.”
Turning the tables on anyone is a “God-given right,” a Quebec judge rules.
Naccache said he thought Epstein was regularly and surreptitiously filming him and his family. In reality, the judge concluded, it was Naccache who had been filming Epstein and other neighbors from cameras mounted outside the house where he lived with his parents and his brother. He also had cameras on his motorcycle and his parents’ cars.
In one incident, video submitted into evidence shows Naccache’s mother, Martine Naccache, driving dangerously close to neighborhood children, the judge wrote. About an hour later, Naccache’s father, Frank Naccache, “deliberately and spitefully” did the same thing, the ruling says, sparking a confrontation with several neighborhood parents, including Epstein.
Epstein testified that during that episode, Frank Naccache threatened to intentionally hit the children with his car. Michael Naccache claimed in court that Epstein assaulted his parents during that confrontation, but video evidence showed Naccache’s brother, Ari Naccache, pushing Epstein, who then walked away in what the judge called a “remarkable exercise of restraint.” “.
Galiatsatos wrote that Martine and Frank Naccache should consider themselves lucky not to have been fined for reckless driving. He added that the two Naccache brothers were lucky they were not charged with assault or making threats.
Galiatsatos wrote that he wanted to be able to literally, not just figuratively, get the case out of court.
“In the specific circumstances of this case, the Court is inclined to take the file and throw it out the window, which is the only way to adequately express my bewilderment that Mr. Epstein was subjected to arrest and abuse. “. criminal prosecution.”
Spokesmen for the provincial prosecutor’s office and the Montreal police did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling. A message left for Epstein through his attorney was not immediately returned. A phone message left at Naccache’s home was also not returned.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 8, 2023.