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| Betty Krawczyk on trial this week |
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| Bagnell Inquest adjourned amid controversy |
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| Bagnell inquest continues |
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October 5 update: Betty Krawczyk appeared before the Court today to learn that her criminal contempt of court trial has been adjourned to January 29, 2007. Mr. Ward withdrew as counsel, stating "Mrs. Krawczyk has instructed me to advise the Court that she perceives this prosecution to be unfair and an officially induced abuse of process. As a result of the ruling [that evidence of abuse of process is irrelevant and inadmissible] she feels she has no further need or desire for legal counsel and will defend herself when the trial resumes."
September 29 update: Madam Justice Brown delivered oral reasons for judgment today, concluding that evidence intended to support an application for a stay of the prosecution as an abuse of process is irrelevant and inadmissible. The Crown then closed its case, after some eight days of testimony and argument. Ms. Krawczyk is scheduled to appear in BC Supreme Court on October 5, 2006, when dates for the criminal contempt trial's continuation will be discussed.
September 25 update: The criminal trial of Betty Krawczyk resumes Tuesday, September 26th with legal argument on whether she can adduce evidence intended to establish that her prosecution for criminal contempt of court is an abuse of the court process. She seeks to call the Attorney General of BC or his delegate to explain why the police did not simply enforce the law, rendering an injunction order, an enforcement order and contempt proceedings unnecessary. The trial enters its sixth day, with more Crown evidence scheduled.
Renowned author, activist and environmentalist Betty Krawczyk faces trial this week on allegations that she disobeyed a court order pronounced in a civil action brought by the companies engaged in the Sea to Sky Highway improvement project. The Attorney General of BC has alleged that the symbolic actions of Krawczyk, 78, in putting herself in the path of excavation equipment to protest the destruction of Eagleridge Bluffs constitute criminal contempt of court.
Earlier, Madam Justice Brenda Brown rejected Krawczyk's assertion that she had a constitutional right to trial by jury and is hearing the criminal case alone, without a jury. It is unclear what punishment "Betty K" will face if convicted. The trial is being conducted in the high security, multi-million dollar Vancouver courtroom built for the Air India trial.
Coroner Stephen Fonseca today adjourned the coroner's inquest into the death of Robert Bagnell and ordered a ban on publication or distribution of a letter dated September 14, 2005 from Victoria Chief Constable Paul Battershill to B.C. Police Complaint Commissioner Dirk Ryneveld and Vancouver Chief Constable Jamie Graham.
Yesterday, the coroner's jury heard that the two Tasers used on Bagnell were tested by electrical lab Intertek ETL Semko and that one of them generated 30.42 joules/pulse of energy in conditions designed to simulate contact with human skin. This is 84.5 times greater than the manufacturer's specification of 0.36 joules/pulse. The author of the report was scheduled to testify today.
Robert Bagnell died June 23, 2004. On June 25, 2004, VPD Detective Faora advised his mother that he died of a drug overdose. On July 23, 2004, after the body had been cremated and the ashes delivered to the family, the VPD issued a media release advising the public that the death had occurred in police custody and that Bagnell had been "Tasered" before he died. On August 16, 2004, VPD Deputy Chief LePard issued a follow-up media release stating that the Taser was used to rescue Bagnell from a fire in the building.
Tasers are a controversial prohibited weapon that "overwhelm the central nervous system" with 50,000 volts of electricity, according to the manufacturer, Taser International Inc. They have been linked to the deaths of at least 215 people in Canada and the U.S. Tasers were introduced to Canada by the Victoria Police Department's Darren Laur, who was the recipient of cash payments and stock options from Taser International.
No comprehensive independent Canadian safety testing has ever been done on these high-voltage electrical devices. Jason Doan of Calgary, who died on August 30, 2006, was at least the 14th Canadian to die after being shocked by a police Taser.
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Coroners' inquests:
The Coroners Service of British Columbia is part of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, the ministry responsible for policing within the province. The Chief Coroner is Terry Smith, formerly of the RCMP. According to the Coroners Service's website; "An inquest is a formal court proceeding that allows for the public presentation of all evidence relating to a death. Inquests may be held to focus community attention on a death and to satisfy the community that the death of one of its members is not overlooked, concealed or ignored. An inquest is mandatory when a death occurs in police custody."
The five man jury at the coroner's inquest into the death of Robert Bagnell has heard that VPD homicide investigators did not interview any of the 12 VPD members who were at the scene when Bagnell died. Instead, after "decompressing", the police officers submitted brief written accounts later. The four ERT members who were in physical contact with Bagnell when he stopped breathing delivered their statements to investigators on July 9, 2004, seventeen days after the incident.
The deceased's mother Riki Bagnell testified that she learned Tasers had been used on her son about a month after his death, from TV news accounts. She said she asked the investigator why the police didn't just leave her son alone to calm down and his response was "That's a good question, Mrs. Bagnell". A few weeks later the VPD held a news conference to explain they Tasered Bagnell to rescue him from a fire in the building.
The VPD media accounts of the death are archived at www.vancouver.ca.
The Province of British Columbia allows police departments to investigate their own members in cases of serious injury and death despite recommendations of a coroner's jury in January 2004 that such investigations be done independently.
