“For the world’s more full of weeping than you may understand”…W.B. Yeats

This Christmas, spare a thought for those less fortunate than ourselves. There is no shortage of candidates; Iraqi and Afghan orphans, Darfur refugees, Katrina hurricane victims and the poor and disenfranchised, wherever they may be.

And spare a thought too for Ivan Henry, 61, who is spending his 25th consecutive Christmas Day behind bars since November 23, 1983, the day he was sentenced by BC Supreme Court Justice John Bouck to an indeterminate period of incarceration as a dangerous offender. Mr. Henry steadfastly maintained his innocence and represented himself at his criminal jury trial, where he was convicted of ten counts relating to sexual assaults committed on eight women. No physical evidence was offered to link Mr. Henry to the crimes, and it was Mr. Henry’s word against the complainants’. Crown Counsel Michael Luchenko later directed a stay of proceedings with respect to seven other similar counts faced by Mr. Henry.

On February 24, 1984, the British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed Mr. Henry’s appeals against conviction and sentence for want of prosecution, as a result of Mr. Henry’s failure to file documents with the court within time. Mr. Henry, still representing himself, then launched a barrage of proceedings from jail, some of which are chronicled in Court of Appeal reasons for judgment pronounced December 16, 1997.

On December 15, 2006, Attorney General Oppal announced that Leonard Doust, Q.C. had been appointed a month earlier to review the convictions “to determine whether there has been a potential miscarriage of justice”. The Attorney General apparently became aware of “new evidence” casting doubt on whether Mr. Henry was the perpetrator of the crimes.

Mr. Henry and his two daughters, who were only six and nine years old when he was incarcerated a quarter of a century ago, are spending their second Christmas apart since the conviction review was announced, awaiting the result.

…..

Read the Court of Appeal’s 1997 decision in R. v. Henry here: upload

Merry Christmas to all, happy 50th birthday to Shane, get well soon Phil…and may Kirsty rest in peace and receive justice some day.

The RCMP has reportedly changed its policy to reduce Taser use to situations where a suspect is “combative” or “actively resistant”. This comes after an interim report issued by Paul Kennedy, the chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.

The CPC recommendations have addressed one problem; “usage creep”, or police overuse of Tasers, but they continue to ignore the elephant in the room, namely, the dangers of the weapons themselves.

Mr. Kennedy’s report contains no analysis of the nearly 300 deaths proximate to Taser use nor any reference to the fact that there are no testing protocols or safety standards fopr these weapons.

In my view, the report should have recommended a moratorium on Taser use pending electrical safety testing of a random number of the weapons and further rigorous independent study of the potential dangers of the electroshock weapons.

Based on my study of the circumstances surrounding Taser-related fatalities, the following common denominators emerge:

-agitated or distressed victims

-multiple shocks, usually including “drive-stun” application(s)

-no evident cause of death

Getting hit with the Taser’s 50,000 volts is a bit like getting hit by a bolt of lightening; everyone gets knocked down, some survive the experience, while a few don’t, with no apparent medical explanation for the unlucky fatalities.

A lot more work needs to be done, by experts unconnected with TASER International Inc. or its cheerleaders in law enforcement, before these weapons can be considered acceptable.

Here is a list of the last dozen to die, all since Robert Dziekanski succumbed:

October 14, 2007; Donald Clark, Asheville, North Carolina

October 17, 2007; Quilem Registre, 39, Montreal, Quebec (no. 285)

November 2, 2007: Stefan McMinn, 44, Hendersonville, North Carolina

November 18, 2007: Jesse Saenz, 20, New Mexico

November 18, 2007: Jarrel Gray, 20, Frederick, Maryland

November 18, 2007: Christian Allen, 21, Jacksonville, Florida

November 20, 2007: Conrad Lowman, Jacksonville, Florida

November 22, 2007: Howard Hyde, 45, Halifax, Nova Scotia

November 24, 2007: Robert Knipstrom, 36, Chilliwack, British Columbia

November 29, 2007: Ashley R. Stephens, 28, Ocala, Florida

November 30, 2007: Cesar Silva, 32, Los Angeles, California

December 10, 2007: Leroy Patterson Jr., 41, Watson County, Georgia

Frank Joseph Paul, 1951-1998

The Frank Paul Inquiry resumes January 7, 2008, when testimony is expected from the Vancouver Police Department members who had custody of Frank Paul before his body was found.

TASER International, Inc., the Scottsdale, Arizona public company that manufactures the controversial stun-gun of the same name, says that its products have never killed anyone. Aside from the patent falsity of this claim (see, for example, medical examiner Dr. Scott Denton’s conclusion that Ronald Hasse of Chicago died of electrocution from Taser application), it defies common sense. Nearly three hundred people have died shortly after being shocked with the Taser’s 50,000 volt discharge.

According to poker and Playboy proponent TASER International, these were all coincidental deaths, caused by the ingestion of drugs or alcohol or perhaps attributable to “excited delirium”, a weird condition where victims apparently collapse and die at the sight of a blue uniform.

No reputable medical organization recognises the existence of “excited delirium” as a medical condition. If there is such a thing, someone should be able to provide a list of those who have died of “ED” where police were not involved, and another list of those who have died of “ED” where a police Taser was not involved. Unless and until I see these lists, I will continue to maintain a healthy skepticism about TASER International’s claims.