John Colebourn (Canwest News Service) - The head of the twice-delayed inquiry into Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski’s death after he was Tasered in the Vancouver airport says he’ll subpoena the four RCMP officers involved, if necessary, to avoid further delays.
Retired B.C. Appeal Court Justice Thomas Braidwood said the inquiry will start Jan. 19 even if the Crown has not decided whether charges should be laid against any or all of the officers.
“Although we are still hoping that the Crown’s decision will be made soon, the commission’s lawyers are in the process of preparing subpoenas for the officers involved and for other potential witnesses linked to the RCMP’s investigation of Mr. Dziekanski’s death,” Braidwood said in a statement Tuesday.
The inquiry commission’s counsel, Art Vertlieb, said the RCMP will not be able to sidestep a subpoena: “Technically they could try and have the subpoena set aside or quashed. There are options to them, but they can’t just ignore it.”
Vertlieb said the subpoenas will specify that the commission wants the RCMP to arrive with the internal documents they have on Dziekanski’s death.
Braidwood said the inquiry has been delayed due to “the reluctance or inability of some law enforcement agencies to provide the commission’s researchers with the required materials or data in a timely manner.”
The RCMP has said it will not participate in the inquiry until a decision is made on criminal charges against the four officers. RCMP spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields said he’s optimistic a decision on the charges will be made by Jan 19.
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1 RCMP Watch // Nov 6, 2008 at 01:13
Judge tired of RCMP stalling
Nelson Bennett - Richmond News
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Four former Richmond RCMP officers involved in the Tasering of Robert Dziekanski will be forced to testify in January at the Braidwood inquiry, regardless of whether or not they have been charged with a criminal offence.
Tom Braidwood, the retired judge heading the inquiry into the death of Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport in October last year, put his foot down Tuesday.
His office issued a news release stating it will subpoena the four former Richmond RCMP officers involved in the Tasering incident when the inquiry resumes in January.
In doing so, his office also accused the RCMP of refusing to cooperate with the inquiry.
“The RCMP has also declined to give the commission access to its files on the case until a decision on charges is made,” the Braidwood press release states.
Cpl. Nycki Basra of the Richmond RCMP said she could not answer Braidwood’s criticisms because all four officers who were involved in the Tasering incident have since been reassigned, and that E Division is in charge of the investigation.
One of those officers — Benjamin Robinson — had been reassigned to the Winter Olympics integrated security unit.
Robinson has been identified as the off-duty officer who is facing charges of drunk driving causing death.
He was arrested by Delta Police on Oct. 25 in connection with the fatal accident that claimed the life of 21-year-old Orion Hutchinson.
Tim Shields of the RCMP’s E Division confirmed the RCMP has not provided the Braidwood commission its full investigative file, which he said is about 2,000 pages long.
“This would make it public,” Shields said. “We can’t do that until we know whether there will be a criminal trial.
“We have been advised by Crown counsel not to submit our full investigative file until the charge decision has been made. The trial process takes precedence over an inquiry.”
Robert Dziekanski died on Oct. 14, 2007 after he was Tasered by RCMP. Prior to that, the Polish immigrant, who spoke no English, had been left in limbo in various parts of the airport for approximately 10 hours, and had begun to act irrationally when he was confronted by the Richmond RCMP, which is responsible for the airport.
The incident was captured on video, which the RCMP at first refused to release back to the owner who shot it.
When it was finally released, it showed the Tasering incident unraveling in a manner that contradicted the RCMP’s initial official version of the events.
The Braidwood inquiry was supposed to begin in October, but was postponed when the RCMP said the four officers involved in the Dziekanski incident would not testify until Crown counsel had decided whether or not to charge the officers with a criminal offence.
The Crown is still waiting for a medical expert’s testimony before it can approve charges.
If criminal charges are recommended by Crown counsel, Shields said the officers’ testimony could prejudice their own trial.
“There is still a possibility there could be a criminal trial, where one or all of the members could be charged with a criminal offence, and by testifying we would be making all the evidence fully public before the criminal trial,” Shields said. “So the criminal trial has to take precedence over an inquiry.”
But if the Crown has not made a decision by the time the inquiry is scheduled to resume on January 19, Braidwood has said the four officers will be called on to testify anyway.
Just days before the Braidwood inquiry is to resume, Robinson is scheduled for a first appearance in Surrey provincial court to face possible charges of impaired driving.
Robinson is currently suspended with pay.
Walter Kosteckyj, the lawyer representing Dziekanski’s mother, said his client was deeply disturbed to learn that one of the officers involved in the Tasering incident that may have contributed to her son’s death had also been accused of being involved in the death of Hutchinson.
“When she heard about this police officer and the death of that young man in Tsawwassen…quite frankly she was emotionally laid up for a couple of days,” he said. “It just revived everything for her.”
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