The Mounties always get their man ... off

Like the other three RCMP officers, Constable Bill Bentley stated Robert Dziekanski "grabbed a stapler and came at members screaming."

Paul Pritchard's video showed Dziekanski was backed up against a table with his hands up.

At his inquiry, Justice Braidwood called their nearly identical explanations "shameful", "patently unbelievable", and "deliberate misrepresentations of what happened for the purpose of justifying their actions".

Yesterday B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan found Bentley not guilty of perjury :

"It is quite possible that the Pritchard video did not capture the gestures several witnesses observed that would be consistent with Mr. Bentley's note that Mr. Dziekanski 'came at' the police because it was taken from behind Mr. Dziekanski."

Possibly this video from yesterday failed to capture a few gestures also.
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Taser needs more "jump science"

A lawyer for Taser Int. told the Braidwood Inquiry today that medical testimony linking the death of Robert Dziekanski to his being tasered five times is "junk science". Or, as amusingly reported twice by the Winnipeg Sun in their version of the story : "jump science".

"... there was no evidence that "the Taser device caused or contributed to his death."
We say it is time this uninformed speculation about the role the Taser device may have had in this case be dispelled and the attack on Taser’s reputation ended."

Taser Int., who filed an application in B.C. Supreme Court in August to quash all 19 of Justice Braidwood's recommendations related to their product, prefers to lay the blame on "sudden death during restraint" due to "delirium".

You know, Taser, I think a simple test here would help clear up all this "uninformed speculation".

The problem is that we see people being tasered and then dropping dead - in that order. The RCMP has hundreds of recorded examples of drawing their TASER™ device and then not using it. If, as you contend, people die of delirium and restraint and not from being tasered, then all you have to do is produce the RCMP body of evidence that just as many delirious people drop dead before they are tasered as after.

Jump science. Hope this helps.

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Preserve those precious moments ...

... between when the safety catch comes off and your victim drops screaming to the ground twirling in circles like a giant bug.

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Or just stick your pinkie over the lens.

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The choice is yours ... with TASER CAM™ :

"Taser International's site says the video recording "is an invaluable tool in protecting officers from baseless complaints regarding professionalism and courtesy."

I'm thinking 'baseless complaints regarding courtesy' will not be much of a problem after that safety catch comes off, but the 'excited delirium' photo greeting card possibilities are endless.

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h/t West End Bob by e.

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Braidwood Inquiry resumes bickering

after being derailed just prior to final summation in June by the sudden appearance of an email written on Nov. 5, 2007 in which Chief Supt. Dick Bent alluded to the four officers' having a plan to TASER™ Robert Dziekanski prior to arriving on the scene, in direct contradiction to their sworn testimony that they did not have such a plan.

There's lots of media on this so I'm not going over all of it, but a couple of the more obvious Cover Your Ass points are being under-reported here.

Constables Bill Bentley, Kwesi Millington, Gerry Rundel and Cpl. Monty Robinson, who all gave startling similar but - according to the video we've seen -clearly wrong accounts of the events, were permitted to work together for several weeks after the incident.

The email from Chief Supt. Dent to Assistant Commissioner Al Macintyre regarding his conversation with Supt. Wayne Rideout on the eve of the release of bystander Paul Pritchard's video, which showed Dziekanski being Tasered five times, being restrained and dying face down in handcuffs on the airport floor :

Media Strategy — Release of YVR video.
Al, spoke with Wayne Rideout today about our strategy for the release of the video. He had a couple of concerns. First, he didn't think we should be providing any explanation for what was transpiring but instead just say the Inquest will take evidence under oath etc. I went through the rationale and said we need to have an explanation otherwise our detractors will put their own spin.

...then a paragraph on who would be the best media point man to "do the narrative" in order that they not "lose the perception of independence", then :

Finally, spoke to Wayne and he indicated that the members did not articulate that they saw symptoms of excited delirium, but instead had discussed the response en route and decided that if he did not comply that they would go to CEW. He has asked investigators for a synopsis and should have it by noon tomorrow.

Dick

Rideout testified on Tuesday that Dent's interpretation of their conversation is "wrong" and his superior Dent, who is due to retire in two weeks, reluctantly admitted that might be possible.
Al Macintyre has said he never even received this email but as a week of his blackberried emails from Nov 1 to 8th has gone missing, this is impossible to verify.

The RCMP has belatedly released another 18,000 relevant documents since June but the inquiry is wrapping up with closing arguments scheduled to begin on Oct. 5 regardless.

Meanwhile, the break in proceedings caused by the sudden appearance of the not-terribly-explosive-after-all email gave the four RCMP officers time to file in Appeals Court seeking a "permanent injunction to prevent the commission from continuing any proceedings against them", while Taser Int is asking the B.C. Supreme Court to quash all 19 of Justice Braidwood's recommendations.

And suddenly, B.C.'s police chiefs and top RCMP officers, including Rideout who calls the current in house investigation system an "unwinnable image problem", are all over the media recommending a new independent office to investigate police, but most balk at the suggestion that such a body be comprised entirely of civilian investigators.

Too much CYA still going on here all round.

My confidence in the Braidwood Inquiry took a beating in June when Justice Braidwood held a presser in which he displayed a childlike thrill at learning all about tasers immediately followed by blaming the media for much of the public lack of trust in the RCMP.
We'll see.
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Braidwood Inquiry posts to date.
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Taser Int. asks BC Supreme Court to quash Braidwood

The vigilantly litigious Taser International is filing an application today with the B.C. Supreme Court to quash all 19 of Justice Braidwood's recommendations, along with the section that deals with medical concerns :

Braidwood concluded that “conducted-energy weapons do have the capacity to cause serious injury or death” and that the risk increases with multiple use and when aimed at the person’s chest.

... a conclusion also reached by Taser International : Instructor and User Warnings, Risks (via Stanford) :

"When practicable, avoid prolonged or continuous exposure(s) to the TASER device electrical discharge. The stress and exertion of extensive repeated, prolonged, or continuous application(s) of the TASER device may contribute to cumulative exhaustion, stress, and associated medical risk(s). Severe exhaustion and/or over-exertion from physical struggle, drug intoxication, use of restraint devices, etc. may result in serious injury or death."

Nonetheless, Taser contends the Braidwood Inquiry ignored "an enormous body of medical and scientific literature, all of which we provided to the commission, to support the safety of the conducted energy weapon".

Presumably not included in Taser Int's "enormous body of literature" was this Canadian Medical Association Journal article, in which Dr. Matthew B. Stanbrook notes the company's tendency to use researchers who "occasionally neglect to mention their participation on TASER International’s medical advisory board or board of directors", and their success in "suing a researcher for publishing scientific results critical of tasers in a peer-reviewed journal and a medical examiner for the “error” of listing taser exposure on a death certificate as the cause of death".

Taser lawyer : "Taser is of the view that the conclusions and recommendations in this report would put law enforcement and Canadian citizens at risk."

Uh huh...
So we have the four RCMP who tasered Robert Dziekanski appealing a previous court decision that allowed Braidwood to make misconduct findings against them in the taser part of the inquiry, and now Taser Int.'s suit as well.
When part two of Braidwood's inquiry resumes in Sept. 2009, after having been derailed in June by a last minute surfacing of an incriminating RCMP email, will the argument be that certain issues can no longer be reviewed by the inquiry because they are now before the courts?
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New from TASER™ - a three-stun gun

The new TASER™ X3 can fire off three shots up to 35 feet without being reloaded.

Impressive. At a distance of 35 feet, you wouldn't even need to talk to the taseree first.

"We are the new technology – it's splashy because of the electricity, you can make it scary," said Rick Smith of TASER International as he and his brother fired off six rounds apiece to whoops and applause from law enforcement officers attending TASER's annual conference today.
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"This is as big a step as when firearms went from a muzzle loader to the revolver," Rick Smith said later. "If I was a cop I'd want to carry one."

So that's three separate people - or I guess in a pinch, three shots for one lucky person.
Why just this morning I was reading about a police officer using a TASER™ to drop a suspect and handcuff him facedown, then firing a second shot into his buttocks as three officers sat on him, and finally the officer shoved his TASER™ up the guy's ass and threatened to tase his balls off with a third shot.
As TASER International likes to say, just imagine how much easier and safer those police officers' jobs will be without all that pesky reloading.
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h/t Waterbaby
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Braidwood Inquiry : It ain't over yet

Justice Thomas Braidwood is "appalled", RCMP lawyer Helen Roberts is "tearful", and the Braidwood Inquiry into Robert Dziekanski's death has been put on hold until September pending further investigation into an incriminating November 2007 email which was only turned over to the Braidwood Inquiry this week.

The email from Chief Supt. Dick Bent to RCMP Assistant Commissioner Al McIntyre :

"Finally spoke to Wayne [Supt. Wayne Rideout, head of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team investigating Dziekanski's death] and he indicated that the members did not articulate that they saw the symptoms of excited delirium, but instead had discussed the response en route and decided that he did not comply that they would go to CEW [conducted energy weapon]."

Rideout's lawyer read a statement from his client saying the email was "simply a misunderstanding" and that that "Rideout doesn't remember saying such a thing and Bent must have been mistaken".
A tearful Roberts stated the email "was simply overlooked" and that "Bent was mistaken in his e-mail and that the officers did not formulate a plan to use the Taser as soon as possible."

I would think 25 seconds is about as "as soon as possible" as is humanly possible, plan or no plan.
All four mounties testified under oath that they did not discuss anything amongst themselves prior to taking down Robert Dziekanski with five TASER™ shots.

When the Inquiry resumes September 22 , Rideout, Bent and McIntyre will likely be required to testify. Will Bent just say : Yeah, I was mistaken ?

Does this make you any happier about the sweeping new powers the Cons propose to give the RCMP to "collect information about Canadian Internet users without a warrant, and activate tracking devices in their cellphones and cars"?
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Sources : CBC, Natty Post, CP.
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Mounties aim to block Braidwood Inquiry

The four RCMP officers who killed Robert Dziekanski with a TASER™ are asking the B.C. Supreme Court to prevent the Braidwood Inquiry from "making findings of misconduct against them" on the grounds "that a provincial inquiry doesn't have the power to make findings against federal police officers".

Justice Thomas Braidwood has warned that he may consider finding that the four RCMP "acted improperly and then tried to cover up their actions" in his final report.
The RCMP are hoping to use the excuse that they are a federal department not accountable to BC to pre-empt the BC Crown from possibly reopening their case. Not that there's been any indication that that's likely.

So far, Constables Kwesi Millington, Bill Bentley, Gerry Rundel and Corporal Monty Robinson have been exonerated by :

• the Criminal Justice Branch of BC, which, despite having watched the same Paul Pritchard video the rest of us saw, determined the officers were "acting lawfully and responded with reasonable force".
• the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, who also watched the vid and were so certain no charges would be laid that they didn't even bother to warn the officers first of their rights under the Charter that anything they said could be held in evidence against them or that they had a right to have their lawyers present.
• the federal Department of Justice, which advised the Mounties they were not legally required to attend the Braidwood Inquiry anyway.

Additionally, the official federal RCMP watchdog Paul Kennedy has already said he is not given sufficient access to RCMP files to enable him to perform his job.

For the RCMP's lawyers to ask the BC Supreme Court to prevent a BC public inquiry from delivering on its purpose ... well that smells like shear flopsweat desperation.
But who is left who has the will to hold the renegade officers of this federal paramilitary organization to account?
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Update : RCMP distances itself from officers' lawsuit over Dziekanski inquiry

Sgt. Tim Shields, the RCMP's official spokesman in B.C. :
"The position of the RCMP is that the RCMP will co-operate fully with the inquiry and is also recognizing the jurisdiction of the inquiry as having authority.
These lawyers are representing the four officers; they're not representing the RCMP."
While Shields acknowledged the lawyers are paid for by taxpayers, he said the force itself has no power to stop them from contradicting RCMP policy.

UPDATE : BC Supreme Court rules Taser inquiry can find Mounties at fault

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Oh well then

Two experts on the TASER™ payroll testified at the Braidwood Inquiry that they don't believe that the five TASER™ jolts inflicted on Robert Dziekanski contributed to his death.

Dorin Panescu, an electrical engineer who received $92,896 from TASER™ last year for "consulting work " :

"With a high degree of scientific certitude, it is my opinion that Mr. Dziekanski's death was not caused by, and not contributed by, the use of a TASER X26."

Dr. Charles Swerdlow, a US cardiac electrophysiologist on Taser International's scientific medical advisory board :

"There is no medical, scientific evidence to support the conclusion that [conducted energy weapon] discharges contributed to Mr. Dziekanski's death. The circumstances of Mr. Dziekanski's death are typical of the poorly understood syndrome of sudden, in-custody death, often occurring after restraint."

That would be the "poorly understood syndrome of sudden in-custody death, often occurring after restraint" in conjunction with five applications of 50,000 volts.

The National Post, the Province and all the other cross-Canada CanWest papers helpfully ran this story under the headline : "'Experts' say Taser did not kill Dziekanski" or just "Taser did not kill Dziekanski".
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Update : Via Chunklets in comments : an item from CanWest's Suzanne Fornier, whose coverage has been excellent and who does not get to write her own headlines, although I have no quibble with this one : Alcohol allegation not backed up : doctor

"An eminent forensic pathologist told the Braidwood inquiry Wednesday that Robert Dziekanski's death -- after five Taser jolts and restraint by the RCMP -- was likely a "cardiac-related" death linked to the Tasering.

Dr. John Butt, who received the Order of Canada in 2000 for his work over almost four decades, disagreed with the report by pathologist Dr. Charles Lee that failed to mention use of the Taser but did conclude "chronic alcoholism" contributed to Dziekanski's death."

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Yo! RCMP! Read the TASER™ manual!

On February 12, 2009, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott assured the public safety committee :

"The RCMP’s revised CEW policy restricts the use of CEWs and specifically warns of the hazards of multiple deployment or continuous cycling of the CEW."

On March 25, the CBC reported that instead Elliott had actually relaxed the 2005 restrictions on multiple zappings, removing the following rule from the RCMP operational manual on conducted energy weapons :

3. 1. 3. Multiple deployment or continuous cycling of the CEW may be hazardous to a subject. Unless situational factors dictate otherwise (see IM/IM), do not cycle the CEW repeatedly, nor more than 15-20 seconds at a time against a subject.

From the CBC yesterday : "Mounties shocked at least 16 suspects with a Taser five or more times", including one unarmed man zapped nine times and another - eight times.

May I politely suggest the RCMP read what TASER™ itself says about multiple zappings.

Taser International : Instructor and User Warnings, Risks via Stanford :

"When practicable, avoid prolonged or continuous exposure(s) to the TASER device electrical discharge. The stress and exertion of extensive repeated, prolonged, or continuous application(s) of the TASER device may contribute to cumulative exhaustion, stress, and associated medical risk(s). Severe exhaustion and/or over-exertion from physical struggle, drug intoxication, use of restraint devices, etc. may result in serious injury or death."

"Extensive repeated, prolonged, or continuous applications ... serious injury or death."

Guys just never want to read the manual first.

The Stanford report also notes that the dismissal of stun gun fatality suits in the US - much ballyhooed as victories by TASER™ Int. - are the direct result of the police officers involved not having sufficiently explicit guidelines to work from :

"Rather, in granting qualified immunity, the court simply held that the officers who fired the taser could not be held liable because the use of the taser did not violate clearly established law because there simply was no clearly established law regarding taser use at the time the officer fired one."

In other words - the same position we now find ourselves in here in Canada.
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RCMP : Getting away with murder

Exhibit A
In June 2008, in response to public outrage over Robert Dziekanski's death at YVR in 2007, the House of Commons public safety and national security committee threatened the RCMP with a complete ban on TASER™ use if "clear restrictions" were not put on officers discharging stun guns multiple times by December.
Eight months later, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott told the committee that the force had already introduced a revised Taser policy back in June 2008 to address that very concern : "We have taken steps to restrict its use."

At the time, many wondered why Elliott had waited a whole eight months to signal compliance with a policy already implemented.

Tonight CBC reports that instead, Elliott had actually relaxed the 2005 restrictions on multiple zappings, removing the following rule from the RCMP operational manual on conducted energy weapons :

3. 1. 3. Multiple deployment or continuous cycling of the CEW may be hazardous to a subject.
Unless situational factors dictate otherwise (see IM/IM), do not cycle the CEW repeatedly, nor more than 15-20 seconds at a time against a subject.

Cpl. Gregg Gillis, the RCMP's national use-of-force co-ordinator, cited two studies to explain the new position - one was funded by Taser Int., while the other did not address the effect of multiple TASER™ use on the heart at all.
Three of the officers involved in Dziekanski's death were trained by Gillis three months before but were unable to recall the policy. When questioned, Millington, who deployed the TASER™ on Dziekanski five times for a total of 31 seconds over one minute, said he would have to check the manual first to answer why there was a policy on multiple use.

Obviously if even their own manual does not prohibit it, individual RCMP officers cannot be held responsible - or charged or sued - for deaths by multiple TASER™.
Further, if another confused and frustrated immigrant walks through the Canadian Border Services Agency administered area of YVR tonight where the observation cameras apparently don't work and even when they do the tapes get erased, there is no reason to expect a different response and outcome than the one Dziekanski received.

In response to CBC's request for an interview, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott wrote: "Unfortunately I am not available to be interviewed."

Exhibit B
It is very unlikely that the Criminal Justice Branch of BC will change its decision to prosecute the RCMP officers who killed Robert Dziekanski - even following their appalling performance at the Braidwood Inquiry - because of the following criteria :
1) It must be determined that their prosecution would be in the public's interest
2) There must be a substantial likelihood of conviction

That the Crown had already seen Pritchard's video and apparently did not consider it to substantially contradicted the officers' statements tells us a good deal about their criteria.

Exhibit C

When the investigating officers from the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) interviewed the four officers about Dziekanski's death, they failed to warn them first of their rights under the Charter that anything they said could be held in evidence against them or that they had a right to have their lawyers present. Consequently all of that now utterly debunked original testimony - Dziekanski running at them screaming and brandishing a stapler and needing to be wrestled to the ground following multiple TASER™ use or the CBSA room being too crowded - is now considered contaminated for use in the courts.

And even if the IHIT team had warned the officers, what they say in testimony at a public inquiry cannot be used directly in evidence against them at any other proceeding. Plus the Braidwood Inquiry does not have any jurisdiction over the RCMP and cannot compel them to hold hearings or investigations.

The RCMP is a paramilitary organisation that from Elliott on down through the ranks ceased being accountable to the public quite some time ago. What can you do? Here's one facebook petition nearing 10,000 members.

Braidwood Inquiry - The return of the Staples Defence

In what is now a familiar and depressing story, RCMP Cpl. Monty Robinson joined the previous officers in testifying today that he "saw a couple of staples come out" of the dreaded and terrifying stapler that Robert Dziekanski was clutching moments before he was zapped five times and died on the floor of the Vancouver airport in 2007.

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In his initial statement to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, Robinson had said that Dziekanski was "swinging the stapler up high...in an attempt to hit us."

Well, so much for that.

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Cpl. Robinson also repeated the fiction, in spite of evidence shown to the contrary on the Pritchard video, that Dziekanski failed to go down on the first TASER™ shot - hence his instructions to "Hit him again! Hit him again!". This command was actually given as Dziekanski, in the words of Justice Thomas Braidwood, "was already on the ground howling with his legs in the air."

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Perhaps most chilling today was Robinson's excuse for ignoring the fact that after being zapped five times and held down by Robinson's knee on his back with his hands handcuffed behind his back, Dziekanski was turning blue :

"I assumed it was bruising," he said.

Live coverage of the inquiry will resume tomorrow at CBC .

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Braidwood Inquiry resumes tomorrow; William Elliott is an ass

On the eve of the resumption of the Braidwood Inquiry into the homicide of Robert Dziekanski after a two week hiatus, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said he "would ask Canadians to reflect for a minute before they jump to conclusions".

A whole minute? What did Dziekanski get? 25 seconds, was it?

"Even in situations where people make mistakes or don't act appropriately, I think there is a requirement for a sober, sound examination of the facts and circumstances."

Yes. Watching Paul Pritchard's video, it's obvious that is precisely what was missing.

"I think the expression, 'Walk a mile in my shoes,' comes to mind.
I am optimistic that the inquiry will result in an assessment and recommendations that are based on that and not based on a knee-jerk reaction to what is heard, what is said or seen."

Right. So your advice is that we should just ignore what millions of us saw on the video and heard in the bullshit testimony given so far that bears no relation to it.

Tomorrow the lead officer, RCMP Cpl. Benjamin (Monty)"Hit him again! Hit him again!"Robinson, takes the stand.
Will he, like the three officers before him, also testify that Dziekanski was throwing things when they arrived, that he came at them screaming and brandishing a stapler, that he ignored their commands and had to be zapped twice before being "wrestled" to the ground, that none of the four have ever mentioned a single word to each other about what happened? Will he also have to be walked though the video frame by frame and have their official story debunked?

Cpl. Robinson will also presumably be asked why, as the lead officer, he did not monitor Dziekanski's condition after he started turning blue, why he did not attempt rescusitation, and why he initially refused to remove Dziekanski's handcuffs for the first responders.

On Oct 25, Cpl. Robinson again failed to provide aid for a victim when he fled the scene of an accident in which he hit a motorcyclist with his jeep. The motorcyclist died of his injuries.


In other RCMP/TASER™ news, the Sun reports that B.C. RCMP Sgt. Russell Hannibal, who was acquitted after zapping a man in handcuffs six times, "received a formal reprimand, not for deploying his Taser, but for using “vulgar, inflammatory” language during the arrest.
Hannibal’s commanding officer would have reviewed all the facts in the case before deciding against a formal hearing."

Yeah, don't mention the TASER™ - I did once but I think I got away with it.
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Monday Update : P.S.A. on that whole "whack a mole in my shoes" thing.
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Harper slashes RCMP watchdog funding

because watchdogs have this annoying tendency to call you out.

Last June, RCMP watchdog Paul Kennedy issued a scathing report on the RCMP use of TASERs, citing the RCMP's over-reliance on the TASER™ manufacturer in developing their policies and training, sloppy reporting of TASER™ use, use of "the folk terminology excited delirium" as an excuse to deploy the TASER™, and failure to treat it as a "firearm".
The report from the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP recommended that TASERs™ be used only on suspects that present a clear physical threat.

Two weeks ago Mr. Kennedy told the public safety and national security committee that he is powerless to tell whether the RCMP have made the changes needed to prevent another Maher Arar affair.
Justice Dennis O'Connor's federal inquiry two years ago into the RCMP's role in the rendition and torture of Maher Arar called for an overhaul of the RCMP complaints commission that would give it new powers to keep an eye on the Mounties' intelligence activities.
Mr. Kennedy told the committee that because this recommendation was not implemented and he does not have full access to RCMP files, he is unable to determine whether the RCMP has cleaned up its act.

Yesterday : Feds slash RCMP watchdog funding

"The Harper government is slashing nearly half the funding for the watchdog agency that monitors the RCMP and recently helped pressure the national police to craft a new policy on Tasers."

Mr. Kennedy said the funding was supposed to produce more than a report on Tasers.

"The commission is close to completing a report on cases where RCMP officers have been involved in deaths and been investigated by their own colleagues.
A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said the project is now over, and the government is consulting with the provinces about other ways to bolster the RCMP complaints process."

In his report last June Mr. Kennedy warned of the danger of the RCMP behaving like "a group distinct from the public" and following "a model in which officer safety takes precedence over that of the general public."

"The cumulative effect of these trends over time may reduce the degree of co-operation of the public that is essential to public safety in Canada."

Obviously. Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan evidently has other priorities.


Meanwhile over at Runesmith, Jennifer is on a mission to save another government watchdog, Kevin Page, who has issued a public plea for help. Go.
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Braidwood Inquiry : Can't get their stories straight about getting their stories straight ...

Feb 27 RCMP Const. Bill Bentley testifies :

"We did have what's referred to as a 'critical incident debrief' where we all told our version of the events that transpired that evening," he said.
Bentley said that, along with the four officers involved in Dziekanski's death, a psychologist and staff representatives were present, but he could not remember when it took place.

Today -Mar 3 - RCMP Const. Kwesi Millington is asked if he talked to any of the other officers, or conversed with them via any other media, about Dziekanski's death prior to this inquiry.
"No," he says.
Reminded of Const. Bentley's testimony about the 'critical incident debrief ' all four officers attended, Millington insists :
"I don't remember any of these discussions."

Mounties : Things all three of you managed to get wrong in exactly the same way - apparently without comparing notes or concocting an agreed-upon defence :

• That Dziekanski was a fearsome creature who advanced on you screaming and brandishing a stapler
• That the armed four of you in your kevlar vests feared for your personal safety
• That several TASER™ shots were required to drop Dziekanski

Millington also stated that he had only seen Pritchard's video in the last month and was unaware of initial RCMP reports and media coverage of the incident.

One more day of grilling for him and then a two week break before we hear from RCMP Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson.

Cpl. Robinson was in court himself yesterday.

On Oct. 25 while off-duty he struck and killed a motorcyclist in his jeep. He immediately left the scene of the accident with his children and returned 10 minutes later. The attending officer noted he smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. He tested over the limit. His licence was suspended for 90 days and he was suspended from the force with pay pending charges.

Yesterday he was in court to protest that the drinking that put his blood alcohol over the limit occurred during his ten minute absence. The judge didn't buy it, citing "inherent inconsistency" in his statement at the scene of the accident.

Inherent inconsistency. Ho boy.

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Braidwood Inquiry - A third officer is forced to recant

Another very bad day for RCMP credibility as a third RCMP officer, the one who applied the TASER™ to Robert Dziekanski five times, is forced to reconcile Paul Pritchard's video with his own completely different version of events.

In his statement immediately after the incident and before seeing the video, Constable Kwesi Millington claimed that Dziekanski assumed a "combative stance" and came at the four RCMP officers in a "threatening manner" while "swinging the stapler wildly". Millington further testified that Dziekanski didn't go down even after three rounds of TASER™ and continued to fight even on the ground.

Justice Thomas Braidwood asked Millington how he could possibly insist the man was still standing after the first TASER™ "when he was on the ground howling with his legs in the air."

"I was wrong about that," says Millington.

So why did he hit him a second time? Because he was "resisting".

Video is shown of Robert Dziekanski spinning around in circles on the floor like a bug all by himself. Who exactly is he resisting?

"I was wrong about that", admitted Milligan again.
And the third time? Because he was still resisting.
And the fourth time? Seems he wasn't sure the TASER™ was working properly so he tried it in push-stun mode, applying it directly to Dziekanski for what he called "pain compliance".
He could not remember having done this a second time as the TASER™ record shows, for a total of five times over 30 seconds.

The stapler defence.
Millington : "I formed the impression he wanted to attack one of the officers or all of the officers."
Asked to demonstrate the stapler threat, Millington holds the open stapler close to his body just above waist height. Jeers break out in the gallery. The video shows Dziekanski surrounded by four officers backed up against the counter and making no movement towards them.

BC Local News :

"Asked what could have gone wrong if officers had waited another second or two, Millington maintained the stapler-wielding Dziekanski posed a threat.
"We feared for our safety and we felt he was going to escape."

Vancouver Sun :

"After Dziekanski was handcuffed behind his back, face-down, Millington said he recalled Const. Bentley pointing out "within a minute or two" that Dziekanski's "ears were starting to turn blue."
Millington agreed that he did not check Dziekanski's pulse or breathing, but thought that Cpl. Benjamin Robinson, might have done so, although he agreed with Vertlieb all officers wore gloves, making medical checks difficult.

Richmond Fire Capt. Kirby Graeme has testified that as the first paramedic on the scene, he was shocked to see Mounties "standing around" not monitoring Dziekanski, who was lying motionless and blue, "not in anything remotely resembling a recovery position."

Millington faces cross-examination and then we'll hear from the fourth and last RCMP officer, Corporal Benjamin Robinson.

Still no transcripts up at the Braidwood Inquiry website since Feb. 19.
RCMP Const. Bentley's lawyer has asked that official inquiry transcripts, video, audiotapes and exhibits at the inquiry not be released without a court order because they fear Poland may bring charges against the officers. Poland has denied they intend to do so.
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Braidwood Inquiry - Dziekanski may have shot staples
Braidwood Inquiry : First RCMP testimony today
Braidwood Inquiry : A second RCMP officer recants
Braidwood Inquiry : Dziekanski compliant after all
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Live coverage of the inquiry can be found at the CBC :
Mon to Fri from 10am to 11:50am and 2pm to 4:30pm
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Braidwood Inquiry : Dziekanski compliant after all

From the very beginning the RCMP justification for stunning Robert Dziekanski has been that he was "defiant" and "non-compliant".
Constable Gerry Rundel testified on Monday that Dziekanski turned away from the officers in a "to hell with you guys, I'm out of here," stance.
Const. Bill Bentley testified he feared for his safety after "Dziekanski disobeyed a police command, threw up his arms in the air and appeared to walk away from the officers, which he saw as an act of defiance."

Yesterday the lawyer for the Polish government blew that excuse away when he walked Bentley through five frames of Paul Prichard's video which clearly show that Dziekanski turned away from the RCMP officers towards a counter because he was directed to do so. In the video RCMP Cpl. Benjamin Robinson is plainly seen vigorously pointing towards the counter with his arm extended straight out in front of him and Dziekanski turns toward it as directed. At this point the four officers surround Dziekanski and RCMP Const. Kwesi Millington fired his TASER™ for the first time.

When the inquiry resumes on Monday, Const. Millington will face tough questioning as to why he then zapped Dziekanski for a further 20 to 25 seconds after he was already on the ground.
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Braidwood Inquiry : A second RCMP officer recants

RCMP Const. Bill Bentley in October 2007, prior to the public release of Paul Pritchard's video of Robert Dziekanski's death :

"Robert Dziekanski, 40, had grabbed a stapler 'and came at the police screaming' during the incident."

Const. Bill Bentley yesterday at the Braidwood Inquiry, after being walked through Paul Pritchard's video :

"If we didn’t have the video, would your evidence be today that Mr. Dziekanski grabbed the stapler and ran toward you screaming?” commission counsel Patrick McGowan asked.
“I don’t know,” Bentley replied, prompting derisive laughter from several people in the public gallery."

Now Bentley says : "Dziekanski "actually appeared calm and cooperative and wasn't doing anything as the officers approached."

That's quite the switch, Const. Bentley.

Vancouver Sun : "Lawyer David Butcher, representing Bentley, asked that official inquiry transcripts, video, audiotapes and exhibits at the inquiry should not be released without a court order. It is believed Poland is considering charges against the officers. The request will be ruled on later."

Transcript of RCMP testimony is still not up at the Braidwood Inquiry site yet but in the past it has usually lagged by several days.
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Circling the wagons for TASER™

Feb 12, 2009 : Tasers potentially lethal, RCMP head tells MPs when introducing new TASER™ policy guidelines to a House of Commons public safety committee in Ottawa :

RCMP Commissioner William Elliott :

"The RCMP's revised CEW policy underscores that there are risks associated with the deployment of the device and emphasizes that those risks include the risk of death."

However...
Feb 25, 2009 : Police defend use of tasers and proclaim their safety when they want to expand their usage in the face of an increasingly hostile public :

Chief Tom Kaye, VP of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police :

"To date, there is no evidence, either scientific of medical, that a conducted energy weapon has been the direct cause of death anywhere at any time on any person."

Charles Momy, the president of the Canadian Police Association :

"There has been no research to indicate clearly that tasers are involved in the deaths of any of the individuals that we've seen in the past years."

Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino:

"150 studies worldwide have proven that “there is no direct link in any case in which a taser was deployed” to show that it was linked to the demise of an individual"

Bottom line : All officers need Tasers, police associations say

Hey, guys, does TASER™ still sponsor your annual Canadian Conference of Chiefs of Police? Just askin' .
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Braidwood Inquiry : First RCMP testimony today

Today the Braidwood Inquiry heard from the first of the four RCMP officers involved in the Vancouver airport death of Robert Dziekanski in 2007. The transcripts will not be available for a couple of days yet so here's what the media have reported. It is the first time the officers have spoken in public.

Constable Gerry Rundel, who was not carrying a TASER™ that night, testified that he feared "for my safety to a certain degree" although he was not clear why.

Dziekanski did not appear to shoot any staples at the officers, Rundel agreed.

Global :
"Rundel said he knew from the police radio that a fellow in the international arrivals area was "throwing objects" and breaking glass and was likely intoxicated.
(In fact, Dziekanski had thrown a small table but did not break glass or threaten other passengers. Toxicology reports after his death showed he had no drugs or alcohol in his system.)"

"Rundel said Const. Bentley first spoke in a "calm, friendly" manner to Dziekanski, but the incident escalated swiftly after that.
Dziekanski gestured toward his luggage but was told "No," by Const. Kwesi Millington.
Dziekanski complied with the request and moved away from his bags.
At that point Dziekanski threw up his hands and turned away from the officers in what Rundel interpreted as a "to hell with you guys, I'm out of here," stance.
"Within split seconds the Taser was deployed," said Rundel.

Pressed repeatedly by commission lawyer Patrick McGowan to say what specific command Dziekanski had disobeyed, Rundel became flustered but insisted that Dziekanski had moved away from his luggage, as he was commanded to do so by Cpl. Robinson, but then became "non-cooperative" or "non-compliant."
"Non-compliance" triggers the Taser deployment in the RCMP's training and use-of-force regulations, Rundel said."


The Star :
"He appeared to not be behaving like a normal person would behave," said Rundel. "It was all part of my observation formed by opinion."

"A criminal investigation conducted by the RCMP into its four members' conduct, which was given to crown counsel late last year, determined that the officers' actions were not criminal.

Dziekanski died Oct. 14, 2007 after getting hit five times with shots from the Taser gun. He fell screaming in anguish to the ground and the officers piled on top of him. Within seconds, he had stopped breathing.

The inquiry had heard earlier testimony from firefighters who later attended the scene that the RCMP officers appeared to do nothing to help the man."


In other news, RCMP in B.C. plan to buy 40 new Taser weapons. The force is budgeting $50,000 for the new model X26E Taser guns.
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