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| Attorney General files appeal in pie fiasco case |
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| St. Arnaud inquest ends with homicide verdict |
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| Police shooting inquest finally under way |
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| Inquest finally set in fatal shooting |
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The Attorney General of British Columbia, ably represented by three lawyers at my successful six day civil trial, has filed a Notice of Appeal in the Court of Appeal seeking to have the $5,000 damages award against it set aside. The appeal will be heard in another six months or so and, when all the bills are in, will probably cost BC taxpayers at least another $20,000.
I had repeatedly asked for an apology for my arrest, strip search, jailing and seizure of my car, and would have gladly accepted one just after the incident or even just before the trial, four years later. However, the City of Vancouver and the Attorney General of BC have spent years defending this case vigorously, at what must be horrendous public expense.
Sigh. Sometimes, you just have to wonder....
Here is a link to a copy of the appeal documents:
upload
Here is a link to the BC Supreme Court trial decision:
upload
Here is a link to one of the interlocutory (pretrial) decisions:
upload
The coroner's inquest into the death of Kevin St. Arnaud, 29, ended late yesterday in Vanderhoof with the jury classifying the death as a homicide. They heard evidence that RCMP constable Ryan Sheremetta, then 22, shot him three times in the chest from a distance of some 5.5 metres in the early morning hours of December 19, 2004. Kevin was intoxicated, unarmed, had his hands up and was holding only a white plastic bag and two plastic pill bottles just before he was killed.
Cst. Sheremetta testified he feared for his life and fired all three bullets from flat on his back as Kevin approached him in a menacing manner, shouting, "you're gonna have to shoot me motherfucker". However, his colleague Cst. Colleen Erickson, a twenty four year veteran of the RCMP, saw the shooting from nearby and testified that Sheremetta was standing "in a combat stance" when he fired the shots and that she did not hear the alleged threat. A civilian eyewitness reported that Sheremetta was standing just before the shots rang out, and that Kevin had his hands up in surrender.
The forensic evidence of three experts revealed that both men were standing, that Kevin was stationary just before he collapsed, and that the three fatal bullets entered his body in a downward trajectory of 30 to 40 degrees. The primary investigator, RCMP Staff Sgt. Glenn Krebs, conceded that he concluded in April of 2005 that there were "inaccuracies" in Sheremetta's account , but his superior, RCMP Staff Sgt. Flath nonetheless subsequently advised Crown Counsel that there was "insufficient evidence" to support criminal charges.
The family was not allowed to make any submissions to the five members of the jury, whose identities remain unknown. Kevin's mother, Delores Young, had wanted to suggest three recommendations to the jury: that the police not be allowed to investigate themselves in serious cases, that coroner's inquests be conducted in a more timely manner and that the deceased's family receive legal aid to enable them to have legal representation at such inquests.
The BC Solicitor General is responsible for coroners and police. In BC, unlike Ontario, Quebec and the UK, police investigate fatal incidents involving their own members. Their investigative report is eventually given to the coroner, who releases copies to the family only if they agree to preserve confidentiality over the file. Under the present Chief Coroner, it often takes several years to hold an inquest, which is a public hearing designed to assure the community that the circumstances of the death have not been overlooked, concealed or ignored. An inquest is mandatory whenever someone dies in police custody, but it may not find fault. Although lawyers and other representatives of the coroners office and the police appear at an inquest at public expense, there is no provision for public funding to assist the family of the deceased.
Cst. Sheremetta reportedly remains on active duty with the RCMP in Kamloops, as does Cst. Paul Koester, who fatally shot Ian Bush in Houston, BC in October of 2005. Kevin St. Arnaud leaves three young children, his parents, two younger brothers and a sister.
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Kevin St. Arnaud
The first two days of the inquest into the police shooting death of Kevin St. Arnaud on December 19, 2004 have been completed. The two RCMP officers involved in the incident are scheduled to testify Tuesday morning, January 23rd, at the Vanderhoof courthouse. The inquest starts at 9:30 a.m.
Last Thursday, forensic pathologist Dr. James McNaughton testified that Kevin St. Arnaud, 29, was killed by three gunshots fired in a downward trajectory into his chest from a distant range. He said he could not comment on an expert reconstruction showing that the shooter's likely standing position was between 2.9 meters (8 ft.) and 5.5 meters (18 ft.) from where the body came to rest. Dr. McNaughton said the trajectory was consistent with the shooter firing from a standing position with his gun at eye level if both he and the deceased were standing. Dr. McNaughton also testified that St. Arnaud had a blood alcohol level of .20%, indicating intoxication, but had no other drugs (aside from a small amount of aspirin) in his tissues or fluids.
Friends who were with Kevin St. Arnaud at a Christmas party earlier on the night of the shooting described him as being happy and as the "life of the party". He was also described as being a gifted artist and intelligent and conscientious worker.
Another acquaintance, Mike Buckley, testified that St. Arnaud came to his home and woke him up after midnight. According to Buckley, St. Arnaud was very drunk and had one hand in a professionally wrapped bandage. When St. Arnaud refused to leave, Buckley said he would have used physical force against St. Arnaud, would have "laid into him", but it wouldn't have been right, since St. Arnaud was obviously drunk and had only one good hand.
Local resident Abe Klassen testified he saw a police officer chase a suspect into the soccer field, yelling "stop". The suspect stopped, turned and threw both hands in the air in apparent surrender. A few moments later, Klassen heard two gunshots in quick succession. He next saw the suspect lying on the field and two police officers approaching him.
Police reported the shooting over the radio at 1:09 a.m. December 19, 2004. No weapons of any kind were found on or near St. Arnaud. The RCMP themselves investigated the shooting, as is B.C. practice, and no charges were ever laid. Observers cannot recall charges ever being laid against a police officer in British Columbia as a result of a fatal shooting.
A few months after St. Arnaud was killed, in another northern B.C. community, Houston, another unarmed young man was shot to death by an RCMP officer. The RCMP investigated the homicide of Ian Bush and no charges were laid in that case either. The mandatory inquest into Ian Bush's death has not yet been held.
Kevin St. Arnaud
A coroner's inquest into the death of Kevin St. Arnaud, 29, is finally scheduled to commence January 18, 2007 in Vanderhoof, B.C., more than two years after the young man was killed by police.
On December 19, 2004, Cst. Sheremetta of the Vanderhoof RCMP was pursuing Mr. St. Arnaud on foot across a soccer field because Mr. St. Arnaud was suspected to have recently committed a break and enter in a local shopping mall. According to a letter from Crown Counsel explaining that no charges would be laid against Sheremetta, Mr. St. Arnaud "came to a stop and put his arms in the air" when "Cst. Sheremetta was approximately fifteen to twenty feet from Mr. St. Arnaud." When Mr. St. Arnaud "advanced" toward the officer, Cst. Sheremetta fired three bullets into Mr. St. Arnaud's chest, killing him. Cst. Sheremetta's female partner was nearby, watching this happen.
According to the letter from Crown Counsel, "no weapons were found on Mr. St. Arnaud." There is no suggestion in the letter that Mr. St. Arnaud had anything in his possession that could be mistaken for a weapon: no penknife, no TV remote, no portable CD player...just some plastic pill containers. The letter does not explain how a person brandishing pill bottles can cause two police officers to fear for their lives and thereby justify such a shooting.
The inquest is expected to run until the end of the month.
