Quebec man who flipped bird to neighbour suing for 'malicious prosecution'

Man arrested for giving the finger files lawsuit A Beaconsfield man is suing the SPVM and Quebec’s prosecutor’s office in connection to a case that made international news.

A Quebec man who was acquitted of harassing his next-door neighbour in a dispute over safety, is now suing the Montreal police (SPVM) and the Quebec Crown (DPCP), for what he calls 'malicious prosecution.'

The case made headlines in March when the judge determined that giving someone the middle finger is a "God-given" Charter-enshrined right that belongs to every red-blooded Canadian."

Neall Epstein claims both the SPVM and the DPCP not only failed to do their job properly, but damaged his reputation and caused him years of anguish after his arrest.

Epstein is seeking $117,000 in moral and punitive damages. The case began in the spring of 2021, when the father of two, along with several others on their suburban street in Beaconsfield, complained that Michael Naccache was driving recklessly where children were playing and went as far as threatening to hurt the kids.

The lawsuit also claims Naccache’s brother Ari pushed Epstein, but it was Epstein who was arrested by Montreal police.

When the case came to court last spring, Quebec Justice Dennis Galiatsatos, in a scathing judgment, accused Montreal police of ignoring contradictory evidence and testimony from other eyewitnesses.

The only fault Galiatsatos could find on the part of the accused was giving the middle finger to the plaintiff in the heat of an argument.

The judge also questioned the prosecution’s judgment, accusing it of wasting the court's time with a frivolous case when there’s such an important backlog and shortage of court time.

In the lawsuit, the lawyer representing Epstein claims that all the safeguards in the justice system protecting the average citizen fell apart, causing his client to face two years of anguish, at a great financial cost.

By law, the prosecution is shielded from lawsuit when it brings a case to trial in good faith. In order to sue, a former accused must show a clear case of negligence.

"The DPCP can be liable when they do not do their job properly and when they have been unreasonable, grossly negligent. It may lead to the DPCP being forced to indemnify a falsely accused person," explained Epstein's lawyer Marc-Andre Landry, who filed the lawsuit in court this week.

None of the allegations of negligence have been proven in court.