Yellowknife, N.W.T. (HQ Yellowknife) – An RCMP officer convicted of assault with a weapon for pepper-spraying a Fort Simpson teen in 2006 has appealed his sentence.
In November, Constable Colin Allooloo was handed 30 days house arrest and a 10-year firearms ban.
He’s appealing his conviction on the grounds the trial judge didn’t consider his circumstances when imposing the weapons ban.
Backed up by a letter from his wife, Allooloo is arguing he should be able to carry a gun for subsistence hunting.
The three-judge appeal panel will weigh the arguments from the Crown and defense lawyers before making their decision.
Allooloo is currently suspended from the RCMP, while the force investigates him under a code of conduct review.
It could be weeks before the Court of Appeal decides whether the Mountie should get a new trial or be allowed to carry a weapon.
It’s not the first time Allooloo has been convicted of a crime. In 2001 he was found guilty of assault causing bodily harm, when he broke a man’s jaw in a Rae-Edzo jail cell.
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RCMP police officer pleads for job
Peter Varga (Northern News Services)
Published Friday, June 18, 2010
SOMBA K’E/YELLOWKNIFE – Judges have reserved their decision on RCMP Const. Colin Allooloo’s appeal of his 30 days house arrest and 10-year firearms prohibition.
Allooloo was convicted on Sept. 10, 2009 following an incident in Fort Simpson on Sept. 16, 2006, in which, while on duty, he pepper-sprayed a youth who was in custody.
In the court of appeal on Tuesday, Allooloo’s lawyer Karen Molle focused the constable’s appeal on grounds that a key witness, RCMP Const. Sigmund Janke, did not present credible evidence at Allooloo’s trial. She contested the firearms prohibition on grounds that it prohibits her client’s right to hunt and provide for his family, and that it inhibits his ability to carry out his job as a police officer.
A police officer for 12 years, Allooloo was in charge of the detachment when he pepper-sprayed the prisoner under the door of the detachment’s drunk tank, hitting the 16-year-old in the left eye.
In presenting the appeal, Molle pointed out that Janke could not say with certainty that he had seen Allooloo pepper-spray the victim. Janke testified that Allooloo had admitted the assault to him and Janke viewed the incident on the detachment’s video security system before the recording was lost, presumably due to a malfunction, according to other testimony. This, Molle said, should not be held as credible evidence.
Molle further argued that there was no proof Allooloo intended to harm the victim when he pepper-sprayed under the door.
Crown counsel David Gates told the three appeal judges that even though a 10-year firearms prohibition may prevent Allooloo from hunting to provide for his family, and could affect his ability to serve as a police officer, “the onus is on the appellant” to demonstrate this in criminal trial proceedings, which Allooloo did not last year.
Molle’s argument that Allooloo unintentionally assaulted the victim also did not hold up, Gates said, adding that “it is unacceptable that the jailer would assault the jailed” who are in their care.
The three appeal judges did not say when their decision will be released.
Allooloo, who was last stationed with the Inuvik RCMP detachment, was assigned to administrative duties after his conviction last September, and was suspended with pay after his sentence was delivered in November.
If the officer’s 10-year firearms prohibition remains in place after the appeal, the RCMP, through an internal code of conduct investigation, will determine whether other duties not requiring firearms can be assigned, Supt. Grant St. Germaine told Yellowknifer.