Eminent B.C. lawyer David Gibbons, 64, died on August 27, 2004. He will be greatly missed. A public memorial service will be held on September 30, 2004 at 5:30 p.m. at the Vancouver Law Courts.

It has just come to our attention that Crown Counsel spokesman Geoff Gaul has suggested that Crown Counsel may be reviewing the results of the Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Jeff Berg. The following statements have been attributed to Mr. Gaul: “For example, whether we should reassess the matter on a charge assessment basis. It’s too early to say that we would embark upon that assessment.”

In the Berg family’s view, a thorough and objective reassessment of all of the circumstances surrounding Jeff Berg’s death is overdue. It must be performed by an independent prosecutor to avoid any appearance of bias, as was done in the case of the six VPD members who were convicted of assaulting three people they had taken to Stanley Park in the middle of the night. The family is urging the Ministry of the Attorney General to appoint an independent prosecutor immediately to reassess whether charges should be laid in repect of the force used to apprehend Jeff Berg and the lack of care and attention that was paid to him by the police as he lay restrained and unconscious.

While there is the prospect of such a reassessment, we and the Berg family will refrain from further public comment on this matter.

Jeffrey Michael Berg, 37, died on October 24, 2000 of injuries inflicted by VPD Cst. David Bruce-Thomas during the course of an arrest on Sunday, October 22, 2000.

On August 13, 2004, Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham spoke to the media about Jeff Berg, the Vancouver man whose death at the hands of Vancouver police was ruled a homicide. Although the three people Jeff Berg was with when he was accosted and killed were not found guilty of participating in a “home invasion”, Chief Graham suggested they were in fact guilty of that when they were found outside a home in the 4800 block Slocan St. on October 22, 2000. Among other things, Graham said that “Jeff Berg had been repeatedly involved in home invasions”, that “there is no doubt that he planned to tie [the occupants of 4870 Slocan St.] up with the cord” later found in his pocket and “the family fled Vancouver in terror and were not available to testify” a trial of the three people who were with Berg when he died. Graham concluded by saying “had he lived, Jeff Berg would likely be in jail today”.

Aside from the insensitivity he has shown to the family of a victim of a police homicide by blaming the deceased victim, Graham’s remarks are erroneous, disturbing, inappropriate and just plain nonsense.

Jeff Berg, 37, had no criminal record and there is no proof that he had ever committed a prior criminal act or that he had committed a criminal act on the night in question. One of his friends testified at the inquest that they were in the alley because they had stopped so Jeff could get some marijuana. The house at 4870 Slocan Street had been the site of an alleged marijuana trafficking operation and one of its occupants, Mo Thi Le, was facing criminal charges for allegedly growing and possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking at that location. This person was one of the “terrified” family members who “fled” Vancouver and supposedly couldn’t testify later.

Jeff Berg was unarmed and had no alcohol or drugs in his system when he was killed. According to police, a scissors and a piece of cord were retrieved from his pockets while he was on life support in hospital. So what? The officer who killed him saw no weapons of any kind and scissors and cord have a variety of innocent uses.

The officer who killed Jeff Berg was unharmed: not a scratch, not a bruise, not a hair out of place. On the other hand, Berg sustained a series of deep bruises and abrasions to his head, face and genitals, all as detailed in the autopsy report. If there was a fight between these two, as Graham suggests, it was completely one-sided. Berg’s injuries were consistent with the reports of civilian eyewitnesses who saw a police officer pistol-whip Berg after he had surrendered, then kick him repeatedly when he was lying motionless on the ground.

Cases should be tried in court. If Jeff Berg’s assailant had not been a police officer, he would have been tried and a court would have decided his guilt or innocence. It is not for Chief Graham or the police to play judge, jury and executioner.

After hearing some four weeks’ of testimony, a five-person coroner’s jury has classified Jeff Berg’s death in police custody as a homicide and has delivered a series of recommendations to the Vancouver Police Department. The jury heard testimony that on October 22, 2000, Jeff Berg, 37, a healthy man with no previous criminal record and unimpaired by alcohol or drugs, was surrendering to police when he was knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly as he lay motionless. Two police officers then handcuffed him, dragged his inert body across the pavement and left him prone and unattended for about ten minutes. When paramedics arrived, they found Mr. Berg face down with his hands cuffed behind his back. His heart had stopped and he was not breathing. The paramedics restored a pulse and transported him to hospital, where he remained on life support until he died on October 24, 2000.

At the time, the Berg family was not immediately informed of Jeff’s condition and, although the VPD holds daily morning media briefings, police spokesperson Anne Drennan did not tell the media of the incident for three days. Although the family was promised a coroner’s inquest in November, 2000, one was not convened until June 24, 2004, after Berg family lawyer Cameron Ward had petitioned the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Regional Crown Counsel notified the Berg family in December, 2002 (26 months after Jeff’s death) that no charges would be laid. Crown Counsel based its decision on an internal VPD investigation that was characterized by Dana Urban, Q.C., a former prosecutor now employed by the Police Complaint Commission, as “incompetent at best”.

This case raises a host of questions: Was there a cover-up? Should the police investigate themselves? Is the BC Coroners Service truly independent of the police, especially since the Coroners Service and the VPD work together on about 500 files a year? Why didn’t Crown Counsel (who also work routinely with the police) lay charges in this serious matter?

The Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Jeff Berg resumed on Monday, August 9, 2004 after an adjournment of several weeks. Prior to its resumption, the family made an application to the Supreme Court of British Columbia for funding assistance from the provincial government. Mr. Justice Shabbits has reserved judgment on the application.

On August 9, 2004, a use of force expert (Cst. Kelly Keith of the Victoria Police Department) testified that if the incident occurred as the civilian eyewitnesses testified it did, then Cst. Bruce-Thomas used excessive force and committed a criminal act.

Later that day, forensic pathologist Dr. Laurel Gray testified that Berg’s three principal facial injuries were consistent with kicks being inflicted, likely while he was unconscious on the ground. She testified that the fatal injury was a blow to Berg’s neck, likely caused by a punch, open hand or a kick. Her autopsy report, which was not allowed into evidence by the Coroner, listed multiple traumatic injuries to Berg’s head, neck, torso and extremities.

Cst. Bruce-Thomas, the other participant in the “altercation”, earlier testified that he was not injured in any way – no scratches, bruises, etc.

On Tuesday, August 10, 2004, the Inquest heard from one of the other occupants of the vehicle stopped by Cst. Bruce-Thomas. Stephen Morrison testified that he saw an officer strike Berg from behind with an overhand blow, causing him to collapse to the ground. At the conclusion of his testimony, the jury foreman started to ask a question but was interrupted by Coroner’s counsel John Bethel, prompting an angry outburst from the juror and an adjournment of the hearing.

On Wednesday, August 11, Berg family lawyer Cameron Ward left the hearing with the approval of his clients, citing the untenable and unfair nature of a system that provided no funding for the deceased’s family’s legal representation. Julie Berg will represent the family until the Inquest concludes, probably by Friday.

The Inquest continues.