Robert Koopmans (Kamloops Daily News) – An off-duty Whistler RCMP officer who knocked a fellow officer unconscious during a drunken dispute at a Kamloops police dance was entitled to use force to defend a friend, a lawyer argued last week.
Defence lawyer Kevin Woodall said there is no doubt Cst. Devon Jones punched Brook Argue, a fellow RCMP officer, hard in the face during the Kamloops Mountie Stomp in April 2006.
Jones faces a charge of assault causing bodily harm. Argue suffered a concussion after striking his head on the floor.
Last Thursday (Jan. 24) in Kamloops Provincial Court, Woodall said the central issue at the trial is whether Jones believed his friend was at serious risk of being injured by Argue because, if he did, he was legally entitled to use force as long as the violence he employed was proportional under the circumstances.
Some of the facts of what happened that evening are disputed, others are not, said the lawyer, in closing submissions at the end of the trial.
Jones testified he saw Argue grab his friend Paul Sellers, another RCMP officer, by the throat in a grip known in law-enforcement circles as a “tiger claw.” The grip, a kind of choke hold, was used by police forces years ago, but abandoned because of the danger it poses of causing serious injury.
Jones testified that he reacted quickly when he saw his friend’s throat in the other man’s grip, and punched Argue once hard in the face, something his RCMP training suggested was necessary to break off such an assault.
For Jones to be convicted, the Crown needs to establish with a body of evidence that Jones was not telling the truth when he believed the tiger claw was being used, Woodall argued.
“That’s the ultimate question — what did Mr. Jones believe to be the case?” argued the defence lawyer.
“Did Mr. Jones honestly believe Mr. Sellers was in need of protection? Unless the court can conclude that is not possible… the court must acquit.
“It comes down to that simple proposition — was Mr. Jones lying when he said he saw (Sellers) in the grip of a tiger claw?”
Crown Counsel Colin Forsyth conceded that if Argue had Sellers by the throat as described, Jones’s punch in defence of his friend was legally justifiable. If the court decides there was no tiger claw, Jones must be found guilty, he added.
“It is a defence of justification being offered. It is a modified version of the defence of self-defence,” he said.
While Jones testified about what he saw, others offered different versions.
Some witnesses said they saw nothing more than a push between Argue and Sellers before Jones punched Argue.
Lisa Holt, the wife of a Kamloops RCMP officer who witnessed the fight, is one of the few the court can rely upon without worry she is biased or whose memory was fogged by alcohol, Forsyth said.
She’s a key witness, he added, with no reason to fabricate, enhance or embellish what she saw.
The prosecutor said the woman was standing 15 to 20 feet away when she saw Argue give Sellers only a light shove.
“She recalls Brook’s hand was down… when (Jones) proceeded to punch Brook Argue in the right side of the face,” Forsyth said.
“There was no warning whatsoever, and (Argue) went right down to the ground… The blow was not necessary nor reasonable in the circumstances.” Jones was drinking and alcohol impaired his judgment, Forsyth said. His blow was neither necessary nor proportional. There were options open to Jones other than “a sucker punch,” saying he could have stepped between the parties or otherwise restrained Argue. “Paul Sellers did not require protection at the time (Jones) struck,” the prosecutor said, suggesting it is more likely Jones struck the blow only to help out a friend — not to protect him from injury. Judge Allan Betton reserved his decision, telling the lawyers he expects to have a verdict within a week. No verdict had been handed down by The Question’s press time. Earlier in the proceedings, Insp. John McKay, an expert on the use of force, testified the tiger claw is a dangerous restraint technique with the potential to cause serious damage to a person’s trachea. The inspector also said a punch to the side of the head is an effective way to break off an assailant’s use of such a grip. Any other kind of action — grabbing at the man’s arm or hand, for example — could have caused more damage to the other man’s throat, he added. Jones has been posted with the Whistler/Pemberton detachment since he completed RCMP officer training 4 years ago, said Insp. Norm McPhail, head of the Sea to Sky Regional Police Services. At the time of the Kamloops incident, Jones was serving as the Whistler/Pemberton detachment’s media relations/community policing officer. Insp. McPhail said the position normally rotates among officers, adding that Jones carried out those duties for about two years. Less-experienced officers are routinely assigned the media-relations duties “to give them that experience,” McPhail said. The decision to move Jones out of that role had nothing to do with the Kamloops matter, he said. RCMP officials say an internal code-of-conduct investigation of the incident will follow the criminal trial. — With files from David Burke, The Question.
Nowdays where the base pay is at the $70,000 mark a year plus any overtime it is not a bad living. Where else is someone with no post secondary education going to make this kind of money? Heck, in some markets that are saturated with Lawyers they probably earn less than this.
But, atleast if you are a Lawyer I am doubtful you have to contend with an unrealistic public, laws that protect criminals, apathetic management, undedicated and lazy co-workers as well as ridiculous govt practices.
At the end of the day and on many different levels, lawyers are the ones who created this climate for police, why would they subject themselves to the same?
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I tell people they are crazy to want to be a cop today. Heck with what is happening out there and especially if they are honest. I tell them to go to school and become a lawyer… I hope this is better advise
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I know a few veteran/retired members that are telling people that are interested in police work to go municipal. The overwhelming reason is that the right people are not taken onboard and they don’t like the direction the ship is heading.
I also agree that work ethic and pride is such an anomily these days that anyone demonstrating such charateristics is increasingly the odd person out and a threat to the cozy way of life of all too many.
The part of the report I found interesting was the one where it stated “practices do not compare favorably to
either best practice private sector employers or best practice paramilitary organizations.”
It is like there is this weird marriage of sorts where so much effort is spent trying to integrate the two concepts, that neither seem to work very well. Whether anyone agrees with the merit in having a paramilitary organization has been hotly debated for years. One thing I don’t think is up for debate is if you are going to instill a para-miliary mentality into your workforce, it has to be instilled through hardwork and discipline, not through feel good community college style adult learning.
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I think that was loud and clear in the report. Good workers get around bad management every time. However, as you fill the ranks with less than first rate employees, do not support the pointy end of the stick, pay lip service to improvements, you will find that the top notch personnel at the front will dwindle in size and dedication. The overall effect is predictable and sad. The direction the ship is heading is not easily turned around. The more steam built with smoke and mirrors, the longer it will take to actually fix it.
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Get real and Just because. Well said with the straight talk!
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Get Real …..Got It
The RCMP failed to react to members concerns over the years. Years ago we had work ethic and Pride , Now we would sell our soul to the devil so to speak . We have many excellent Men and Women at the front lines doing their best , thats all one can ask for out of any employee. Its not their fault upper mangement has let them down and are more interested in the Politics of Policing rather than the actual job .
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I think you people should read the Duxbury report on the RCMP. Include in your reading the first report of a few years back, and pay attention to the comments about the ‘Alignment Initiative’. Predictable things happen when you are outgunned, underpaid, understaffed, and being beaten to the first rate employees due to your badly managed and untrained human resource personnel. No workable system of grievances, no internal representation, ie: union or association to really advocate, protect employees as well as help get rid of the deadwood.
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Speaking,
It possible that your classmates in depot were all against you, were “malicious thugs”, and that your failure at depot was a result of a personality conflict between you and the rest of your classmates.
In the absence of any other evidence, though, it is equally possible that the peer assessments were accurate, that you are unable to get along with coworkers, and would have run into the same problems when you went to your first detachment. An inability to get along with others is righteous grounds for dismissal, in my opinion.
From the tone and content of your posts, I tend to think the latter is more likely the case.
The RCMP has thousands of officers and is therefore like any other large organization; there will be some bad apples. You have pointed out a few independent cases and have painted the whole RCMP with the same brush.
Certainly they are not perfect and, as pointed out in the Brown report, there are many things they can do to improve. But that would be the case with any large organization. I think that your previous experiences are preventing you from seeing the real issues because everything you read about the RCMP you are reading from your hateful perspective.
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I don’t expect anyone to always agree with me either. Heck, I think we have all even said things a couple of days previous, that we ourselves don’t even agree with on the given day. There are someday’s when talking out of frustration, I tend to throw things out there and would probably tell you the RCMP should get rid of their cars and go back to the horse riding days of Sam Steel. That doesn’t mean it is a serious idea that I would present to a parliamentary reform committee.
On a more serious note, the only people who always agree with others are gutless “YES MEN”. The RCMP is filled to the brim with them walking around in white shirts. (And the lap dogs in grey, who want to wear white) In my opinion the worst leaders/scrotum lappers are the ones who always say yes to everyone above them, and no to everyone below and beside them.
I think the most important part of any discussion, is honest discourse. I have seen arguements where I believe both sides are wrong and ones where both sides are correct. How is the latter so? Different answers people give are relative to their own personal realm of experiences. A given truth in one capacity will not always be so in another.
When you have this kind of candidness it is not about ego or personal agendas. It is about selflessness. It is about fixing what is wrong. It is about getting to the bottom of things. It is seeking to find answers the will benefit the collective. I believe that because of some of the above reasons and because of political correctness you don’t see enough of that honest talk anymore.
Like Justbecause said, the leaders continue to do what is best for them. This my friends sits at the root of what corruption is.
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Simon …….. I may not agree with everything Speaking my mind has stated , however I agree with some of his points. If people only knew what was going on within the ranks of the RCMP , they would be shocked . People still think we have policemen out driving around in their PMV 24/7 doing a bang up job . The RCMP is still constrained by too many levels of bureaucracy to be effective . The leaders are first and foremost concerned about whats good for them . Furthermore I see no one that will hold them accountable except the Public .
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Very Well Said;
Most people have no real ideal what is going on in the ranks and file of our national police force and how they interact with the public and themselves respectfully.
This case along with others only point us in the direction of issues that really have been plaiguing the force for many years and some of the issues were dealth quietly rather than publicly and certainally not like the the way the former Commissioner of the RCMP case was handled.
Well they are not perfect but only are dealth with differently that`s all.
Everyone have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God and they are no different that any other person on this planet…
All we got tyo do is keep things in perspective and keep everyone accountable and in check or we are headed for a bang of a fall as the human race goes…
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Simon, when you ASSUME things, you make and ASS out of U and ME.
There is a big difference between washing out and having a gang of malicious thugs telling lies behind your back and spreading malicious rumors in a workplace style mobbing setting where anyone that isn’t involved doesn’t have the integrity to stand up for what is right. That is the RCMP I am talking about.
Just wait until the day comes when someone you don’t see eye to eye with starts a campain to destroy you behind your back or the back of someone you care about. Maybe then you will have the empathy to understand what I speak of.
Yes, most of what I say is very negative and over flows with anger. What I will say is that yes, the RCMP has some of the absolute best people I have ever met, and some of the most dishonorable people I have ever met. The kind of people that fabricate things, like in the Arar case.
It is also my opinion that “Anonymous Peer Assessments” foster the kind of gutless behaviour that is seen in the force. It is the peer assessment that exists to divide and conquer the rank and file. It is also a very effective weapon in cases of personality conflicts. I have no direct qualms with the peer assessments itself, I just believe it brings the force down the slipery slope of what I have experienced. That is my opinion and is all I am really going to say. Anything beyond that it is really none of anybodies business.
What I would like to add is, that the lack of empathy that people seem to have by making assumptions regarding those who are genuinely harassed, is what is at the very core of the RCMP problem- and why it seems to be so prevalent. You would probably have people believe this does not exist either.
If you want to discuss the legitimacy of what I have to say, don’t look directly at what I say, look at the ROT that has been reported in the news.
-Hudak in Alberta
-Smith in New Brunswick
-The case of the golden horse shoe area drug section that had to go on sick leave after several of them developed post traumatic stress disorder from a hostile work environment.
-The Calivn Lawrence story
-The Morin case
Or a couple of other good examples of workplace mobbing in other police forces that expands my overall cynicism on why so many (not all) get into law enforcement:
Jamie Symington- Halifax Police
Dr. Kim Rossmo when he was with Vancouver PD.
If you think for one second that any of these people don’t have any right to feel “jaded”, than I will laugh in your face. You would feel ripped off too. So would anybody. It is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation.
Need I say more? These cases are just the tip of the iceberg.
I would like you to think of an injustice you suffered in your life. Do you really think it is normal not to feel upset and jaded because of it? Let me get this straight, are you really naive enough to believe that just because a person is angry diminishes the actual facts, de-legitimizes their point of view or the mistreatment they incurred? I implore you to take that approach with the next distraught rape victim you deal with (on a personal or professional level). Tell them, “There is no need for the facts to be examined as I don’t really believe you, as upset people who complain about raped lack credibility with me. Because you are jaded about human nature, I don’t put much stock in your assessment of human kind. It must have been that you have deserved it. It must have been what you were wearing.” Do you really buy into this kind of thinking? These would be some very dangerous assumptions for any human to make.
Trying to discredit critics like me is going to do nothing to change the eroded public perception of the RCMP. I am just a guy on his soap box speaking his mind. Yeah I am angry about some of the injustices I experienced. You got me. I admit it. But, one doesn’t have to look at my indignation to see the kinds of problems that do exist in the RCMP. The cases that I present above are out there in black and white. That is what I want people to take into consideration.
In conclusion, you can’t please everyone. There are others who know exactly what I am talking about and are in complete agreement. At the end of the day, I couldn’t give a crap whither you think my opinions hold stock or not. ALL MY JADED OPINIONS HAVE TO REFLECT IS THAT THE VICTIMS OF HARASSMENT WITHIN THE RCMP HAVE STOCK WITH ME.
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Speaking, why do I get the impression that you washed out from Depot…. you seem to know all about their practices and personnel, yet you speak about Depot and the RCMP in general with absolute disdain.
Could it be that your classmates roasted you on these “anonymous peer assessments”?
Given your jaded perspective, I find it hard to put much stock in your assessment of RCMP performance.
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What a bunch of F-ing clowns! The RCMP can’t even get along when they are off duty.
I really think there were other options besides punching someone in the face. Even with a “tiger claw”.
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