Susan Lazaruk, Vancouver, BC (Vancouver Province) – The most senior officer involved in the Tasering of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport acted “honestly and reasonably” when he responded to the 911 call, his lawyer told the Braidwood inquiry.
“Officers are allowed to have latitude when making decisions in (pressing) circumstances,” said Reg Harris, the lawyer for Cpl. Benjamin (Monty) Robinson, who was the officer in charge when the Polish immigrant died in October 2007.
Dziekanski, 40, had been travelling for more than 20 hours and was stranded at the airport for about 10 hours when he became frustrated and started throwing luggage, prompting the 911 call.
He was in the process of immigrating from Poland and planned to meet with his mother, who lives in the B.C. Interior community of Kamloops. The two never connected at the airport.
Dziekanski died face-down on the airport floor after being Tasered five times by one of the four RCMP officers called to the scene. Robinson, as the Mountie in charge, had ordered his subordinate officer to use the stun gun.
“Police officers, like members of the public, are allowed to get it wrong, but they must act honestly and reasonably,” Harris told inquiry commissioner Thomas Braidwood.
Meanwhile, a senior RCMP officer who made the decision not to immediately correct false information about Dziekanski’s death wasn’t deliberately misleading the public, his lawyer said Thursday morning.
Alec Pringle said RCMP Supt. Wayne Rideout was concerned about the integrity of evidence when he didn’t publicly acknowledge police knew Dziekanski was hit five times with the Taser.
Pringle said Rideout believed police shouldn’t disclose evidence before a trial, in case it jeopardizes the investigation.
“I find it troubling it is being alleged he was trying to deliberately mislead the public,” said Pringle.
I am glad you find the proceedings amusing. This is not just an inquiry centered on the 4 or the 16,004, it is a mirror of what society has become, will tolerate, will stoop to, what our legal system(s) have devolved into. Relevant and factual items have been ignored, twisted, reformulated, repackaged on both sides.
The hysteria generated has, I must admit, been a tad humorous at times, but only in the dark sense.
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I just love watching lawyers torture the english language because who after all, is better at it than they are? Is it just me or does anyone else revel in the added bonus of the way they have revived medieval bear baiting tactics and turned them on principles of logic?
This is a riot. Equating Cpl Monty’s behaviour with honesty and reason, and Suptd. Wayneo’s knowing perpetuation of a lie as not deliberately misleading, makes as much sense as a crime scene report that assures us “the victim died of natural causes after being stabbed 17 times in his sleep in the chest by an ice-pick”.
C’mon…even if you are a touch vexed at the red serge (okay, okay, so maybe you are royally pissed at them), you could at least give them and their madcap lawyers credit where credit is due. Normally you have to pay a lot of money at a club or a theatre to get comedy like this. Proof yet again that you don’t necessarily have to agree with them to be be treated to a good laugh.
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