Susan Lazaruk (Vancouver Province) – An RCMP corporal was cleared Wednesday of using excessive force in a Tasering, although the judge rejected his version of events and questioned his credibility.
Port Coquitlam Provincial Court Judge Frances Howard acquitted Corp. Russ Hannibal of assault with a weapon because she “was left with a reasonable doubt” that the force used was excessive.
But she said: “I completely rejected a lot of his [Hannibal's] testimony,” calling parts of it “obviously self-serving” and “self-serving after-the-fact rationalizations.”
Howard also said the testimony of Hannibal’s partner, Const. Tracey Sokolowski, was “not sufficiently reliable for a conviction.”
Hannibal was charged after Sokolowski complained to superiors that he had Tasered and pepper-sprayed Robert Madeiros outside the Foggy Dew pub in Port Coquitlam on Aug. 25, 2001.
Madeiros, who was intoxicated, patted Sokolowski’s buttocks inside the pub. Sokolowski admonished him, he apologized, and she accepted the apology.
When Sokolowski, an eight-month rookie, told Hannibal, who had several years’ experience, he escorted Madeiros outside.
Hannibal intended to arrest Madeiros for sexual assault but he resisted. Hannibal then Tasered Madeiros six times at close range, which is less debilitating than the high-voltage distance shots.
Madeiros was never charged.
Hannibal was acquitted last year of using excessive force after he used a Taser to arrest a mentally ill man the day after the pub incident.
Hannibal, who returned to a desk job at headquarters last spring after the first acquittal, had been suspended with pay of $70,000 a year since the charges were laid in 2002.
His lawyer, David Butcher, said: “He’s relieved. He’s pleased it’s all over.”
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