Mountie Not Guilty of Perjury

Aug 02, 2013 – Vol. 18 No. 31 Mountie not Jul 25 2013 guilty of perjury EDMONTON - Federal Justice Min- ister Peter MacKay says the Con- servative government is consider- ing changes to impaired driving legislation in the Criminal Code. Page 3 Jul 26 2013 SYDNEY - The headquarters of the Cape Breton Regional Police has undergone a name change in hon- our of a former chief. Page 4 Jul 28 2013 TORONTO - Nearly half of Ontario’s jails are overcrowded, a six-year high that sees cells meant for two people at times hold three or more as the province struggles with a ris- ing tide of inmates who have yet to have their day in court. Jul 29 2013 Page 5 VANCOUVER - It is impossible to say floor in October 2007, B.C. Supreme Court for certain that one of the four Mount- Justice Mark McEwan said in his verdict. Jul 29 2013 ies who confronted Robert Dziekanski Cst. Bill Bentley had been facing a charge TORONTO - Toronto police will at Vancouver’s airport worked with his that he lied at a public inquiry into Dziekan- do everything they can to answer three colleagues to concoct a story ski’s death, but McEwan said there are “other all the questions surrounding the about what happened that night, says explanations, inconsistent with the guilt of the “tragic’’ death of a young man shot a judge who found the officer not guilty accused, that remain open on the evidence.’’ by officers over the weekend, Chief of perjury Monday. When the verdict was pronounced, Bentley Bill Blair said Monday. Even an explosive video shot by a traveller bent over and cried into a tissue. Page 6 may not hold the full story about what hap- Whether the verdict will change what happened when Dziekanski was zapped repeat- pens with the perjury charges against Bent- Jul 30 2013 edly with a Taser before dying on the airport ley’s three colleagues is not clear. VANCOUVER - The RCMP is accused of violating the privacy of several of its members by hand- ing over their personal medical records in a dispute with a British Columbia psychologist. Page 8 Crown counsel spokesman Neil MacK- “The peculiar nature of this case is that the it in their direction, with the stapler coming enzie said the special prosecutor will take a alleged falsehood is that at the inquiry, Mr. within a foot of him. close look at the ruling. Bentley lied about lying,’’ McEwan wrote in The video does not show Dziekanski “Each of these cases is determined on its his ruling. swinging the stapler, but his back is to the own specific facts,’’ he said. “I don’t want to “The Crown has not shown that in any camera - a limitation the officers’ lawyers fo- speculate about what the effect of this deci- particular (allegation), Mr. Bentley made cused on during the inquiry. sion may be other than to say that obviously a false statement knowing it to be false and Bentley was also confronted at the inquiry the cases contain some interrelated facts.’’ with intent to mislead the inquiry. The Crown with his own notes from that night and his sub- He said the decision in one case won’t has advanced a suspicion based largely on sequent statement to homicide investigators. necessarily determine what takes place in the circumstantial evidence.’’ He included the following account in his other trials. Commissioner Thomas Braidwood’s final notes: “Subject grabbed stapler and came at Bentley was the first to be tried for perjury report concluded the officers used too much members screaming.’’ for his testimony during the 2009 inquiry, force and had no justification for using the Taser. At the inquiry, Bentley conceded the note which was called to find answers about what But McEwan found that when Dziekanski was wrong, but said he was confused about a happened the night the officers responded to picked up the stapler, he could be seen to be fast-moving situation. a call about a distraught man throwing furni- combative. The defence did not call any evidence ture in an arrivals area. “It is quite possible that the Pritchard video and denied Bentley colluded with the other Bentley said in his notes was Dziekanski did not capture the gestures several witnesses officers. Lawyer Peter Wilson argued his cli- came at the officers screaming and brandish- observed that would be consistent with Mr. ent’s initial errors were honest mistakes and a ing a stapler, prompting police to use the Bentley’s note that Mr. Dziekanski ‘came at’ product of a fast-paced incident and involve- Taser several times and wrestle Dziekanski to the police because it was taken from behind ment in an in-custody death. the ground. Mr. Dziekanski.’’ Bentley was the officer who called for an But the video, shot by traveller Paul During final submissions, McEwan in- ambulance and alerted dispatchers about his Pritchard, appeared to contradict some of terrupted the Crown several times, raising worsening condition, the defence said. Bentley’s notes and statements. doubts about the Crown’s theory, and noting “Here’s the youngest officer there with the During Bentley’s trial, the Crown called civilian witnesses made the same sort of mis- least involvement - what on Earth did he have several witnesses from the airport and prose- takes as the Mounties. to cover up?’’ asked Wilson. cutors relied on a comparison of the police of- McEwan said in his ruling that while all ficers’ notes and statements. Prosecutors tried the officers’ statements say Dziekanski was to prove the collusion by relying on similari- combative and yelling at them, they aren’t Thursday ties in the four officers’ notes and statements. “uniform.’’ July 25, 2013 The fatal confrontation fuelled a national “It is almost impossible to prove a subjec- debate about the safety of Tasers, prompting tive assertion that there was an explanation the Braidwood Inquiry that forced Bentley other than that Mr. Bentley was wrong.’’ Jul 25 2013 and the other three officers to account for why The Braidwood report prompted the prov- WASHINGTON - The FBI announced they used so much force so quickly on a man ince to appoint a special prosecutor to review last week it would reexamine thou- who, on the surface, appeared calm when po- the case. In May 2011, the prosecutor ap- sands of once-closed cases in which a lice arrived. proved perjury charges against Bentley, Cst. person was convicted — and in some The Crown argued at trial that Bentley and Kwesi Millington, Cst. Gerry Rundell and cases put to death — based on hair the other officers colluded on their stories to former corporal Benjamin Robinson. samples. Known as microscopic hair homicide investigators and then lied at the in- The other three officers are expected to comparison analysis, this type of test- quiry to cover up the deception. face separate perjury trials later this year or ing was often used to link a criminal early next year. defendant to a crime, but its reliability Bentley had been working as an RCMP of- has now been called into question. ficer for just over a year when Dziekanski died. The FBI said that in more than 2,000 cases In the video, Bentley can be seen hopping from 1985 to 2000, analysts may have exag- over a railing and walking through a slid- gerated the significance of hair analyses or ISSN 1704-3913 Copyright 2013 ing security door as he and the other officers reported them inaccurately. All defendants af- Blue Line Magazine Inc. & The Canadian Press approached Dziekanski, who stood with his fected by the inaccurate analyses will be noti- Permission to reprint may be obtained in advance from hands by his sides. fied and offered free DNA testing if errors in Access Copyright Phone 1-800-893-5777 [email protected] Within seconds, the officers surrounded are found in the FBI’s lab work or testimony. Dziekanski and one of them fired his Taser According to a report from The Washing- Published weekly by Blue Line Magazine, Inc. as an executive news briefing service to Canada’s top level law enforcement personnel. multiple times, causing Dziekanski to scream ton Post, more than 120 convictions have been and writhe on the floor. flagged as suspicious in the FBI’s review thus Most information supplied in this publication is from news- wire services. As such Blue Line Magazine does not ac- The video was played countless times at far. Of those cases, 27 defendants received the cept responsibility for the accuracy of articles as supplied. the inquiry, with Bentley and the other offi- death penalty as their punishment. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, cers narrating the clip with their versions of In addition to reviewing individual cases, stored in an electronic database or transmitted in any form or by what happened. the FBI is also using the review process to any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, with- out the prior permission of the publishers. One Year Subscriptions Bentley testified that, based on the 911 call improve lab training, testimony, audit sys- are $10500 (GST Included). Paid subscribers may make up to four and Dziekanski’s appearance, he approached tems and research. (4) copies of this publication for distribution within their organization. Dziekanski prepared for a possible fight. “There is no reason to believe the FBI Group Publisher: Morley S. Lymburner He said at first, Dziekanski was calm, but Laboratory employed ‘flawed’ forensic tech- PUBLISHER: Kathryn M. Lymburner - [email protected] NEWS EDITOR: Mark Reesor - [email protected] then he became “unco-operative’’ when he niques,” Special Agent Ann Todd, a spokes- Subscriptions: Blue Line Store at www.BlueLine.ca threw his hands up and walked away.

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