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- RCMP may review interrogation
methods after Bear acquittal
Judge tosses confession in Wapass murder case
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
December 09, 2004
The RCMP will wait to see if
the Crown appeals Farand Bear's acquittal on a manslaughter charge
before considering whether interrogation methods need to be reviewed,
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Brian Jones said Wednesday.
Bear was acquitted in the 2002
death of Maxine Wapass on Tuesday, after Queen's Bench Justice
John Klebuc refused to admit a videotaped confession because
police interrogators violated Bear's right to remain silent.
Klebuc had found that RCMP
Sgt. Charles Lerat and Saskatoon Police Service Const. Stan Goertzen
"went too far" when they suggested to Bear the court
would interpret his refusal to answer questions as a lack of
remorse.
Bear said 88 times over three
days of questioning in June 2003 that he couldn't answer their
questions on the advice of his lawyer.
If the Crown does not appeal
the decision, the police may review interrogation procedures,
Jones said.
Lerat and Goertzen are qualified
polygraph operators, which required training in interviewing
and interrogation at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa, so
Klebuc's criticism of their method "could have wider implications,"
Jones said.
On the other hand, judges make
decisions every day "on the voluntariness" of statements
and this ruling may not be enough to require changing the way
police are taught, he said.
Sometimes investigators don't
have enough evidence to charge a suspect with a crime, said Bernie
Eisworth, executive officer of the Saskatchewan Federation of
Police Officers. In such cases, a confession may be an investigator's
last hope of proving who committed the crime, he said.
"The easy thing would
have been to say, 'We have nothing,' and go home," he said.
"Maybe they feel a little desperate."
The decision to reject the
statement based on the police comments and behaviour rests with
the judge. Another judge might have ruled differently, Eisworth
said.
The public can take comfort
in knowing interrogations are videotaped so that if police do
make mistakes in questioning, the errors can be caught and police
can learn from them, Eisworth said.
"That's the way it has
to be. As police officers, we have to accept that," he said.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
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