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Politics : Canadian Political Free-for-All -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Greg or e who wrote (13454)	9/23/2009 4:49:47 PM
From: average joe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 37650

Braidwood inquiry testimony delayed by closed-door meeting VANCOUVER - The Braidwood inquiry was delayed for more than two hours Wednesday morning while more than a dozen lawyers met in a closed-door meeting. Inquiry officials would not discuss the reason for the delay and would not comment on the rumour that a last-minute witness had come forward.. Initially, the lawyers for the federal Department of Justice, which represents the RCMP, met with inquiry Commissioner Thomas Braidwood for half an hour. Then the other 15 lawyers representing various parties were called in to the closed-door meeting. The delay stretched into more than two hours. The inquiry was scheduled Wednesday to hear the testimony of three final witnesses: - Staff Sergeant Doug Wright, officer in charge of Richmond RCMP subdetachment at airport, where the four Mounties worked who responded to a 911 call at the airport after 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 14, 2007. - John Jubber, a United Airlines employee who observed Robert Dziekanski, who had arrived from Poland and spent nine hours walking around the airport looking for his mother. - Gracie Churchill-Browne, an interpreter under contract with the Canada Border Services Agency, which controls the customs and immigration area of the airport. Churchill-Browne was called first after the delay. Dziekanski, 40, who spoke no English, eventually became agitated and began throwing around furniture and a computer, prompting a 911 call to police. Four officers arrived on the scene in separate cars - Constables Kwesi Millington, Bill Bentley, Gerry Rundel and Cpl. Monty Robinson - and confronted Dziekanski, who picked up a stapler from a counter. Millington testified he deployed his Taser stun gun five times on Dziekanski, who died at the scene after he was restrained and handcuffed. The inquiry came to a halt last June when an e-mail from a top-ranking Mountie was disclosed. The e-mail said the officers had discussed before arriving at the airport using a Taser on the man if he didn't comply. The controversial e-mail contradicted the earlier testimony of the four officers involved in the in-custody death. The officers all told the inquiry that they had no discussions before arriving at the airport. The author of the e-mail, RCMP Chief Supt. Dick Bent, said his e-mail was accurate and the source of the information was a conversation with Supt. Wayne Rideout, who then was the team commander of the investigation of Dziekanski's death. Rideout, however, testified Tuesday that Bent's e-mail was inaccurate. Under questioning by Rideout's lawyer at the inquiry, Bent conceded he may have misunderstood parts of what Rideout said during their conversation. At the time, he recalled, the RCMP was preparing to release a video taken by a citizen at the airport that was seized by police, and the Mounties were trying to formulate a media strategy when the video was publicly released. The RCMP initially said Dziekanski was Tasered twice but did not correct the misinformation for 14 months, when the Crown announced no charges would be laid against the four officers. The Braidwood inquiry is probing Dziekanski's death and the commissioner can make findings of fault. Braidwood's final report will be presented to the provincial government. vancouversun.com