BANFF, Alta.
A judge says an Alberta man was wrongly arrested and Tasered multiple times, before and after he was handcuffed - and he's slamming the arresting Mountie's testimony as "deliberately false."
Judge John Reilly this week dismissed an obstruction charge and a bylaw ticket for being a nuisance against Adam Dormer stemming from an incident in Banff in 2007.
The judge said Dormer was subjected to excessive force when he was Tasered while in handcuffs.
"I am not even sure, on the basis of what I hear here, there was a justification for arrest at all," Reilly told court Monday.
He issued a stern rebuke to Banff RCMP Const. Casey Murphy, whose evidence he called "deliberately false."
Dormer, a 26-year-old carpenter and resident of Exshaw - 85 kilometres west of Calgary - testified he and two friends were walking from one bar to another on July 21, 2007, giving random people high fives.
He said when he encountered the constable, he offered the officer a high five, which did not go over well. Dormer testified he then tried to express to the officer that he has a lot of respect for what the RCMP do, adding that his brother was training to join the force.
He said he attempted to shake Murphy's hand, which was refused.
"After he wouldn't shake my hand a second time, I took it as offensive," Dormer said, adding he told Murphy his refusal is one of the reasons why people view cops as "f-- pigs."
Dormer said that after he was Tasered twice while being handcuffed, the weapon was discharged another three times while Murphy held the Taser to his back and pushed him toward a police cruiser.
Const. Murphy testified that he only approached Dormer after a woman complained the six-foot-nine Dormer had been bothering her earlier in the evening, trying to look up her skirt.
"I directed him to go home, he had been drinking and I was going to leave it at that," he said.
Murphy said the accused became combative, swearing at the officer.
http://www.canada.com
1 comment:
On June 12, 2009 the Alberta Court of Appeal denied a request by the Crown to re-try Dormer. In dismissing the appeal, Judge Marsha Erb stated that instead of diffusing the situation, the police officer escalated it; she agreed with Trial Judge Reilly that excessive force had been used. Judge Erb said that in this situation any use of the Taser was excessive, whether it was twice as claimed by Constables Murphy and Fournier or five times as proven by evidence. She stated “the attitude of the officer triggered this whole thing”. She indicated concern that the Crown had not disclosed the Taser reports as requested by defence at the trial.
The Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss the request for a re-trial, while laudable, is too little too late. Dormer, Murphy, Fournier and the RCMP need more.
Dormer needs to be compensated for all financial and emotional costs. Murphy and Fournier need to face criminal charges for the attack on Dormer and for providing deliberately false evidence in court. Those charges should include Breach of Trust, Assault with a Weapon and Perjury.
The RCMP needs to better train its people – use of violence should be a last resort. To demonstrate a respect for society and for the law, the RCMP needs to discipline every RCMP officer who assaults a citizen or fabricates information in court. Otherwise the RCMP will be condoning the Blue Wall of Silence, virtually guaranteeing that officers will never come forward to expose corrupt and abusive practices of their colleagues. Years ago, if Canadians heard about the RCMP being abusive with a suspect, most sided with the police officer and assumed the suspect deserved it. Not any more. Citizens have lost their innocence and no longer trust the police. The RCMP needs to take corrective action and take it fast.
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