Taser inquiry wraps up in Vancouver with legal questions
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 | 9:45 AM PT
CBC News
Commissioner Thomas Braidwood says he will release his final report early next year. (CBC) The inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport wrapped up Tuesday with legal arguments from several lawyers about what conclusions the commissioner can legitimately reach.
Dziekanski died Oct. 14, 2007, after the RCMP fired a Taser at him five times when he was creating a disturbance in the international arrivals lounge.
But on Tuesday, the final day of the Braidwood inquiry into his death, the makers of the Taser stun gun rejected any suggestion the weapon figured in the death of the Polish immigrant.
The lawyers for Taser International argued in their final submission that there was no scientific or medical evidence linking the use of the Taser on Dziekanski to his death after a confrontation with Mounties.
The company dismissed as "novel theories" the testimony of some experts, who said the Taser may have caused a heart malfunction.
Taser's final argument to the inquiry came in the week after the RCMP and several other police agencies announced they will adopt the company's new recommendations not to aim the stun gun at the chest to avoid the risk of cardiac problems.
Questions about jurisdiction
The inquiry also heard conflicting arguments from lawyers representing the provincial and federal governments about whether commissioner Thomas Braidwood has the power to level findings of misconduct against the RCMP or the Canada Border Services Agency.
The Braidwood inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski wrapped up in Vancouver on Tuesday. (Paul Pritchard) The federal government argued the commissioner does not have the legal jurisdiction to find fault with the way police or the border agency handled the situation with Dziekanski.
"We say as a matter of constitutional law — there is not the capacity in a provincial commissioner to make a finding of institutional misconduct," Mitchell Taylor argued.
But Craig Jones, the lawyer representing B.C.'s attorney general, told Braidwood he should not limit his findings to provincial affairs.
"You can go where the facts lead you," Jones said.
Both lawyers cited case law, with Jones telling the commissioner to have no fear because justice is a provincial responsibility.
"That is the constitutional authority that underlies this commission —maintaining, enhancing, preserving public confidence in the administration of justice in the province."
Don Rosenbloom, who represents the government of Poland, said that what's not in dispute is the inquiry's authority to level charges of misconduct against people — no matter who they work for.
"That will go a long way to hopefully instill in Canadian people some confidence in our judicial system and our policing system," Rosenbloom said.
Braidwood has promised a final report early next year.
