Inquiry into Dziekanski's Taser-related death resumes Monday
Last Updated: Sunday, March 22, 2009 | 8:04 PM PT
CBC News
Related
Internal Links
- YOUR QUESTIONS: CBC reporter Curt Petrovich takes your questions about the Dziekanski inquiry
- Mountie who stunned Dziekanski denies conspiracy at Taser death inquiry
- Mountie who stunned Dziekanski denies panicking or covering up
- VIDEO: [graphic content] Paul Pritchard’s raw video of Dziekanski’s Taser death (Runs 10:00)
- In Depth: Tasers
Video
- Terry Milewski reports: Inquiry into Dziekanski's Taser-related death resumes (Runs: 2:34)
- Play: Real Media »
- Play: QuickTime »
The inquiry into the Taser-related death of a Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport will resume Monday with testimony from the senior officer involved.
RCMP Cpl. Benjamin (Monty) Robinson was the officer in charge of a team of four when Robert Dziekanski was hit multiple times with a police stun gun and died on Oct. 14, 2007.
Dziekanski family lawyer Walter Kosteckyj said the testimony from the three other Mounties involved has been full of errors and misrepresentations.
"I expect more of the same. I have to, based on [the] past," Kosteckyj said. He said he thinks Robinson will be "somebody who is not prepared to step up. But we will see. It's hard to anticipate what Cpl. Robinson will have to say."
The other three officers involved in the fatal incident took their cues from Robinson on how to handle the distraught Dziekanski.
So far, his fellow officers have told the same tale, even repeating the same errors, about what Dziekanski was doing — that he was throwing things, yelling and had to be Tasered twice before being "wrestled" to the ground. All three testified that Dziekanski, who had been at the airport for nearly 10 hours and didn't speak English, resisted and ignored police commands.
Lawyer Don Rosenbloom, acting for the Polish government, said the officers can't be believed.
"I don't buy that explanation, because if one of those officers had made an erroneous statement, it's one thing, but when a second one does, a third one does, when a fourth one does, you start being troubled by the situation," Rosenbloom said.
Testimony contradicts video evidence
The officers' recollections conflict with what appears on video shot by eyewitness Paul Pritchard.
The first three Mounties have said that, after a brief interaction, Dziekanski became difficult when he tossed his hands in the air and took a few steps away. When he turned back toward the officers, Dziekanski was holding a stapler, which the officers have said made them feel threatened. That's when Const. Kwesi Millington delivered the first Taser shock.
The weapon was used five times in all, although it's not clear how many of those connected with the man.
Kosteckyj said the video clearly shows Robinson telling Dziekanski not to reach for his luggage and directing him to a nearby counter.
"In fact, he is obeying instructions and none of these police officers, up until now, can point to a single command that he did not obey," he said.
The video also shows Dziekanski had already been stunned twice when Robinson called for another jolt of the Taser.
"Hit him again! Hit him again!" Robinson can be heard shouting on the video of the fatal confrontation.
As Dziekanski lay unconscious on the floor, his hands cuffed behind his back, none of the RCMP officers were performing proper pulse and breathing checks, they have testified.
Officers admit to mistakes during initial investigation
The inquiry has also focused on inconsistencies in what the officers initially told police, and the accuracy of Robinson's initial statements is sure to be scrutinized.
The other Mounties admitted making several mistakes in their police notebooks, statements to homicide investigators and internal reports about what happened.
For example, the officers have said it took several Taser shocks before Dziekanski fell to the ground, even though the video shows he collapsed seconds after the first deployment.
One even claimed Dziekanski kept walking toward the officers with a stapler raised above his head after he was stunned.
The officers have insisted their early accounts represented their best recollections of a stressful, fast-paced event.
Robinson will be asked about his gestures to Dziekanski just before he was jolted, why he asked for another Taser shock even though Dziekanski was already on the floor and what efforts he made to revive the unconscious man.
Robinson is expected to be on the stand for a number of days.
He will be followed by ambulance attendants who were called to the scene but could not revive Dziekanski on the airport floor.
The Braidwood Inquiry was ordered following an international outcry over Dziekanski's death.
Crown prosecutors decided in December that Robinson, Millington, Const. Bill Bentley and Const. Gerry Rundel wouldn't face criminal charges, although the inquiry's final report could include findings of misconduct.
With files from the Canadian PressShare Tools
Latest British Columbia News Headlines
- Drug users sue Abbotsford over anti-harm reduction bylaw
- Advocates for needle exchanges are suing the City of Abbotsford, saying the city's bylaw which bans harm reduction centres violates basic human rights. more »
- What kind of home can $380,588 buy?
- The national average price for a home rose to $380,588 in April 2013, an increase of 1.3 per cent from the previous year. But what can a house hunter expect to find for that price? more »
- Traffic circle accidents worry Kitsilano residents
- Residents along a popular biking lane along Vancouver's West 10th Avenue are concerned traffic circles are causing an increase in accidents between cars and cyclists. more »
- Harper to address Tory caucus amid Senate scandal
- Conservatives gathered Monday night to mourn the passing of a key architect in their rise to power — and to brace for the toughest test Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has faced since taking office on a promise to clean up politics in the national capital. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Oklahoma tornado recovery work begins after deadly storm
- Rescue teams searched through the night looking for survivors after a deadly tornado that flattened homes and two schools in an Oklahoma City suburb, and officials have now reduced the death toll from 51 to 24. WATCH LIVE: U.S. President Obama is scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. ET about the massive tornado.
more »
- Harper 'upset' by conduct in Senate expense scandal
- Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave a televised address to his Conservative caucus this morning to comment on the Senate expenses controversy that prompted the weekend resignation of his chief of staff, Nigel Wright. more »
- Horwath will support Ontario Liberal budget
- Ontario voters may get some indication today from NDP Leader Andrea Horwath on whether the province is headed for a spring election. more »
- Keith Boag: Have you heard about the murderous abortion doctor?
- The gruesome trial and murder conviction of Philadelphia abortion provider Dr. Kermit Gosnell is unlikely to change American abortion law, Keith Boag writes. But it has U.S. journalists questioning their priorities and how they cover such a sensitive issue. more »
- Fearful Oklahoma families search for children
- The parents and guardians stood in the muddy grass outside a suburban Oklahoma City church, listening intently as someone with a bullhorn called out the names of children who were being dropped off — survivors of Monday's deadly tornado. more »
- B.C. man feared kidnapped in Mexico
- Canadian on EI shut out amid foreign worker influx
- Vancouver man attacked, killed in Costa Rica
- Vancouver link to Hadfield's space guitar
- Nanaimo Facebook group takes aim at thieves
- Petition looks to rename Victoria Day
- Bid to re-open Langley Speedway
- Public raising funds to buy alleged Rob Ford crack video
- East Vancouver residents in 'guerrilla gardening' campaign

