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Police oppose civilian
panel
By LISA LISLE , Ottawa Sun,
January 17, 2004
Ending the practice of police
policing themselves is simply a matter of the province pandering
to special interest groups, claims the local police union. Calling
Attorney General Michael Bryant's plan to overhaul the province's
police complaints system a "knee-jerk reaction" to
special interest groups, Ottawa Police Association executive
officer Brenda Lawson said the current system is working just
fine in the nation's capital.
"It seems to work in Ottawa,"
Lawson said, adding if there's a problem elsewhere, the province
should "deal with it."
Last year 219 public complaints
were filed in Ottawa, resulting in zero charges under the Police
Services Act.
Mike Harris' Tories scrapped
the Police Complaints Commission -- an independent civilian agency
with the power to investigate police and hold disciplinary hearings
-- six years ago and replaced it with a system that gives each
police force the power to investigate its own officers. Decisions
can be reviewed by local police service boards and even appealed
to the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services.
Hoping to inspire more confidence
in the justice system, Bryant plans to change things before the
end of the year.
"In light of the history
on this whole issue, I hope there would be room for consultation,"
Chief Vince Bevan said, suggesting that "there's always
room for improvement" even though he believes there's nothing
wrong with the current system.
CAN BE INTIMIDATING
Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon,
who's not so convinced that the Ottawa Police Service's professional
standards unit is getting the job done, said he's looking forward
to the changes.
"I'd like to see them
file a complaint somewhere other than the police station,"
he said, listing what he believes should be priorities in the
new system.
Being forced to turn to police
officers for help in dealing with other cops can be intimidating
and many legitimate complaints are never filed, Greenspon said,
citing his client Julie Cayer as an example.
Cayer was thrust into the media
spotlight three years ago after someone came forward with a video
showing Const. Martin Cardinal smashing her head on the trunk
of his cruiser during her arrest.
Cayer told Cardinal's criminal
trial that she never intended to come forward because she didn't
think anyone would believe her. Cardinal was later convicted
of assault.
Having seen officers exonerated
by professional standards but later raked over the coals in civil
judgments, Greenspon said he now discourages clients from making
complaints.
"Not only are the optics
not good but the reality isn't good either," Greenspon said
of the current system.
- Bid focuses on tape
Convicted cop not seen slamming woman's head: Lawyer
- By SEAN McKIBBON , Ottawa
Sun, January 22, 2004
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- A SHOCKING video that helped
convict Const. Martin Cardinal of assaulting an intoxicated woman
who was under arrest doesn't really show him banging her head
on a police car trunk at all, his lawyer argued yesterday. Arguing
an appeal of Cardinal's Jan. 21, 2003, conviction for assaulting
Julie Cayer, David Paciocco said the judge on the case, Justice
Kent Kirkland, had arrived at an unreasonable decision that couldn't
be supported by the evidence.
That evidence was a videotape
of the incident coincidentally shot by a neighbour from his balcony.
The footage caught Cayer's arrest for causing a disturbance outside
310 Cambridge St. on Nov. 25, 2000.
"The problem is it doesn't
show her face striking the car," Paciocco said, adding that
an audible slamming noise on the tape was Cardinal's hand hitting
the car.
Kirkland had serious problems
with Cayer's credibility, but felt the video bolstered her evidence
that her face had been shoved up against the car, Paciocco said.
TROUBLE WITH MEMORY
"It can't strengthen her
evidence. All it can do is improperly double up her evidence,"
he said.
Cayer had trouble remembering
much of the incident and was wildly inaccurate on other points,
he added.
Cardinal's position at trial
was that Cayer had been trying to rear up and spit at him, and
that he simply tried to keep her from doing so by shaking her.
Paciocco said Kirkland "asked
himself the wrong questions" in deciding whether Cardinal
had a defence of using reasonable force in carrying out his duties
as a police officer.
Rather than asking whether
Cardinal had control of Cayer, Kirkland should have asked whether
Cardinal believed he had control and whether that was a reasonable
belief.
He also said that the judge
made "misapprehensions of the evidence" and failed
to consider the evidence of the other officer on the tape, Const.
Ron McCarthy, who tells Cayer to calm down.
"He doesn't say, 'Hey
Cardinal what are you doing?' he says, 'Julie, Julie, Julie,
calm down,' " Paciocco said.
But Crown lawyer Milan Rupic
argued that the tape does show Cardinal slamming Cayer's head
and said that it would have been physically impossible for Cardinal's
hand to have hit the trunk given the position of Cayer's body
and Cardinal.
NO 'LEAP OF FAITH'
"The accuracy of the videotape
removes any reasonable doubt," he said. "It's not a
big leap of faith for him (Kirkland) to look at the videotape
and come up with that finding."
Cardinal's conviction resulted
in a conditional discharge that required him to perform community
service.
Justice Jean Forget reserved
his ruling in the appeal to give consideration to the arguments
in the case.
SIU
probes fatal police chase
Broadcast News, December
6, 2004
OTTAWA -- The Special Investigations
Unit is investigating a fatal crash after a car hit a hydro pole
while it was being chased Sunday by Ottawa Police.
A 20-year-old man died in hospital
early Monday from injuries he suffered in the crash. The SIU
said Ottawa police officers began chasing a car that had run
a stop sign.
The driver lost control of
the vehicle, which left the road and struck a hydro pole.
A second 20-year-old man suffered
a series of fractures, but his injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Seven SIU personnel are investigating
the extent of police involvement in the collision. The SIU investigates
any incidents involving police which result in serious injury
or death.
© Broadcast News 2004
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
