Latinos upset over police assault trial

Hopes that charges would be dropped against an alleged police brutality victim were dashed in provincial court Monday with the setting of a trial date for the Chilean man.

Juan Melendez, 37, was arrested during a prostitution sting Aug. 17. He says police choked, punched and smashed his head into the sidewalk after they mistook him for a native man they were planning to arrest.

Melendez was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.

On Monday, he pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial was set for June 15.

"I was coming here hoping for the best -- now I'm going home really disappointed," he said outside court.

"I don't need to go to trial. I'm innocent. I was beat up."

Don Wise, of the Latin American Community Association, said calls for the charges to be withdrawn obviously fell on deaf ears.

"We're bitterly disappointed that this criminal trial is going ahead against somebody we honestly and firmly believe is innocent and should not be facing trial," he said.

"What we've got here is a case where we pitted ourselves against the integrity of the police department, their image. We're rattling the big cage here. We lost this round."

Calgary police have finished an internal investigation of Melendez's complaints but the findings have not been released.

Still, Melendez said he doubts anything beneficial will come from the probe.

"I have no hope it's going to help me. They have already laid those charges and are going to trial."

The report is now with the Crown prosecutor's office, which will review it and recommend whether charges should be laid against the officers involved in the arrest.

The report, ordered by former police chief Christine Silverberg, will eventually go to newly named chief Jack Beaton, who will decide what step to take next.

Meanwhile, Melendez said the charges have ruined his job prospects.

Despite graduating in September from the electrical technology program at SAIT, Melendez said he's still unemployed.

"Now my life is going worse. With charges like that, which employer is going to give me a job when they said I assaulted a police officer?"