Lawyers defend RCMP officers against allegations at Dziekanski inquiry
By James Keller (CP) – 59 minutes ago
VANCOUVER, B.C. — Four RCMP officers who have been portrayed as incompetent liars who needlessly stunned Robert Dziekanski multiple times with a Taser are now getting a final chance to paint a different picture at the public inquiry into the man's death.
The officers' lawyers began final arguments on Tuesday and were to continue on Wednesday, refuting claims of a coverup and justifying the officers' response at Vancouver's airport two years ago.
Their most ardent accusers have already summed up their arguments, with lawyers for Dziekanski's mother and the Polish government alleging wrongdoing and then a conspiracy to justify what happened.
Poland said Tuesday it wants Commissioner Thomas Braidwood to disregard what the officers told the inquiry earlier this year and make findings of misconduct against them.
"The officers' conduct can be construed as nothing short of an intentional act to subvert the course of justice," the country's lawyer, Don Rosenbloom, told Braidwood.
"It is well within your mandate to rule that the four officers were not credible and that their evidence should be discounted."
Dziekanski, a Polish citizen moving to Canada to live with his mother in Kamloops, B.C., died on Oct. 14, 2007, at Vancouver's airport.
Rosenbloom said the officers acted too quickly when they arrived at the scene, where Dziekanski had been throwing furniture, and used the Taser without justification.
And when the RCMP began to examine the in-custody death, Rosenbloom said the officers lied to investigators and continued to lie when they testified at the inquiry earlier this year.
He pointed to numerous inaccuracies in their initial statements to police, which appeared to paint Dziekanski as more violent and aggressive than what can be seen on an amateur video of the confrontation.
"No reasonable interpretation of the conduct of the four officers can lead one to conclude anything but that they acted at best with gross misconduct," Rosenbloom said.
The commissioner has the power to make findings of misconduct against the officers or anyone else when he writes his final report.
But two of the officers' lawyers told Braidwood on Tuesday that the Mounties acted properly at the airport and were honest - if mistaken - when later recalling what happened to police.
"(Const. Bill) Bentley now faces allegations of misconduct, which if substantiated could destroy a reputation that has already been compromised by intense media coverage," Bentley's lawyer, David Butcher, told the inquiry.
Butcher said the officers knew a bystander had taken a video recording of the incident, and one even took down the names of about a dozen witnesses to pass on to investigators.
He also noted the officers each gave their statements immediately and without lawyers.
"Somebody who wants to cover up does not want to create a record of the eye witnesses," said Butcher.
"Had these officers been intent on a course of conduct of covering up, the very first thing they would have done was lawyered up."
Ted Beaubier, who represents Const. Gerry Rundel, described most of the errors in Rundel's statements as relatively minor and "not unreasonable" in the circumstances.
"There's no question that events unfolded extremely rapidly and sometimes within seconds," said Beaubier.
"It's been said that these officers were trained with respect to observation . . . but does that take them beyond human beings with respect to being affected by a traumatic event that took place in front of them?"
Because Bentley and Rundel weren't the ones carrying the Taser or giving orders to use it, neither Butcher nor Beaubier discussed the weapon's use in detail, saying their clients couldn't be held accountable for that decision.
But they did reject the suggestion their clients approached Dziekanski too quickly when they arrived without first speaking to witnesses to assess the situation.
Butcher said the 911 dispatcher told the officers they were responding to a drunk man throwing luggage. While Dziekanski wasn't intoxicated, it was clear when they arrived the man had thrown furniture.
He said even though Dziekanski wasn't violent the moment officers approached him, it was reasonable for them to believe the situation could quickly deteriorate.
"Any suggestion that the police should have taken these steps reflects a naive misunderstanding of the realities and practicalities of police work," said Butcher.
And even if Dziekanski wasn't actually about to turn violent, Butcher said that doesn't matter.
"The police don't have to be right," he said.
"They can have completely misinterpreted what was happening here, but if they're belief was reasonable, then no misconduct can be found against them."
Butcher was scheduled to finish his submissions on Wednesday, followed by lawyers for the officer who fired the Taser, Const. Kwesi Millington, and the supervising officer, Cpl. Benjamin (Monty) Robinson.
Three of the four Mounties are fighting a court challenge of the provincial inquiry's jurisdiction to make findings of misconduct against federal police officers.
The federal government, in a written final submission, makes the same argument for the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency.
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