RCMP lied, Polish lawyer tells Taser inquiry

The four RCMP officers involved in using a Taser on Robert Dziekanski are liars, a lawyer for the government of Poland told a B.C. inquiry into the Polish immigrant's death following several jolts from the stun gun.

Poland wants the inquiry to make findings of wrongdoing against the officers and several other Mounties involved in the later investigation of the October 2007 incident at Vancouver International Airport, Don Rosenbloom told the inquiry on Tuesday.

The four officers conspired to concoct a story to justify their repeated use of the weapon, lied to investigators and continued to lie at the inquiry, Rosenbloom told Commissioner Thomas Braidwood during his final submissions to the inquiry in Vancouver.

"The officers' conduct can be construed as nothing short of an intentional act to subvert the course of justice," the attorney said.

"It is well within your mandate to rule that the four officers were not credible and that their evidence should be discounted."

Dziekanski, a Polish citizen moving to Canada to live with his mother in Kamloops, B.C., died on Oct. 14, 2007, at the Vancouver airport. He was stunned by the officers after becoming agitated when he couldn't find his mother after several hours of wandering around the baggage claim area.

The inquiry has heard that several aspects of the officers' statements to investigators about what happened during their confrontation with Dziekanski are contradicted by an eyewitness video of the incident.

In particular, the officers said – incorrectly – that Dziekanski was yelling and aggressive when they arrived, came at them swinging a stapler, stood through the first two stuns and had to be tackled to the ground.

Officers deny lying

A lawyer for one of the officers told the inquiry Tuesday that the events chronicled on the tape are open to interpretation.

The officers have denied lying, acknowledging errors in what they said but insisting their comments were the best recollections of a fast-paced, stressful event.

On Tuesday, Rosenbloom rejected that explanation, arguing that the officers' efforts to cover up their actions as well as their use of force are grounds for findings of misconduct.

He said the officers used excessive force when one of them deployed the Taser five times and then failed to provide Dziekanski with appropriate medical care once he had collapsed on the floor of the international terminal.

"No reasonable interpretation of the conduct of the four officers can lead one to conclude anything but that they acted at best with gross misconduct," Rosenbloom said.

The commissioner has the power to make findings of misconduct against the officers or anyone else in his final report.

Senior officers also criticized

Three of the four Mounties are challenging the commissioner's jurisdiction in court. The federal government, in a written final submission, also argued that the inquiry has no jurisdiction over the RCMP.

Rosenbloom asked Braidwood to go further than simply finding against the four officers at the airport that night. The lawyer said misconduct findings should also be levelled against three other RCMP officials: media relations officers Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre and Cpl. Dale Carr and Supt. Wayne Rideout, who oversaw the investigation.

He said Lemaitre and Carr either intentionally or negligently misled the public in the aftermath of Dziekanski's death.

Their statements to reporters included several incorrect facts, including that Dziekanski remained aggressive despite the officers' attempts to calm him down; that he was yelling and screaming when the Mounties arrived; that the first Taser jolt appeared to have no effect and that the stun gun was used only twice.

Rosenbloom said Carr and Lemaitre ought to have known those facts were wrong or, at the very least, corrected them once they realized their mistakes.

Rosenbloom said Rideout tried to suppress the amateur video and only agreed to release it when the man who shot it, Paul Pritchard, launched a court challenge.

Carr, Lemaitre and Rideout all defended their actions in testimony, insisting they wanted to keep information from the public to protect the integrity of the investigation. Lawyers for all three will address the inquiry later this week.

The first of the four officers' lawyers began his closing submissions on Tuesday, dismissing allegations that his client was involved in a cover-up.

Ted Beaubier, who represents Const. Gerry Rundel, said Dziekanski's back was turned away as the video rolled, so parts of the tape are open to interpretation.

Still, he insisted most of the errors were relatively minor and "not unreasonable" in the circumstances.

"There's no question that events unfolded extremely rapidly and sometimes within seconds," he said.