Alberta Crown prosecutors disagree with police watchdogs finding that RCMP officer should be charged

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) says its recommendation to charge a second RCMP officer with assault in a 2020 incident has been turned down by the province’s Crown prosecutor’s office. In a report released Wednesday, ASIRT executive director Michael Ewenson said the ASIRT investigation found there had been several instances of assault by two officers involved in an arrest on Nov. 14, 2020 in Maskwacis. Maskwacis is made up of several First Nations communities located 95km south of Edmonton. An overview of the 2020 incident contained in Ewenson’s report said “Maskwacis RCMP received a call about several males vandalizing a residence, shooting off guns and fleeing in a vehicle.” During the pursuit, the suspect vehicle “got stuck in the snow” and the driver “exited the vehicle with his hands up and laid prone on the ground.” An officer approached “and applied force to the driver,” according to ASIRT. The agency’s report says “the RCMP vehicles were equipped with a Watchguard in-car video recording system. As such, the events following the suspect vehicle becoming immobilized and interactions with the occupants by RCMP officers was largely captured on video.” Other officers approached the passenger side door which was locked, according to ASIRT’S summary. One officer broke the passenger side window with his carbine, and two more suspects “exited the vehicle and laid prone on the ground in line with the driver.” The second officer “appeared to stomp on the leg of the driver at least twice and then subsequently hit him in the leg with his carbine in a downward thrusting motion,” according to the ASIRT report. “After all the individuals were handcuffed, [the first officer] dealt with one of the passengers, where an application of force occurred. Ewenson said ASIRT’S investigation “provided reasonable grounds to believe that several incidents of assault occurred by both subject officers.” But Crown prosecutors didn’t agree. Ewenson’s report said that the ACPO “subsequently provided an opinion recommending that the first officer be charged with assault for his use of force on the driver as well as one of the passengers,” but not the other. The report said the file was provided to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) for an opinion and it recommended charges be laid against one officer. “That officer was charged according to ASIRT and his matter remains before the Court. However, no charges were recommended against the second officer by the ACPS,” Ewenson’s report said. “This said, while no criminal charges will be laid against [the second officer], the RCMP may still very well determine that his actions are nonetheless deserving of disciplinary sanction under the relevant provisions of the RCMP Act. That decision rests solely with the RCMP.” According to Ewenson the “incident was delayed in being reported to the Director of Law Enforcement as it only came to the attention of RCMP management in March of 2021.” The report goes on to say that the police watchdog and the ACPO “are bound by different standards when assessing the viability of charges arising out of an investigation. ASIRT, as the investigative body, applies a Criminal Code standard that determines whether reasonable grounds exist to believe that an offence has been committed.” “ACPS, based on its internal policy regarding criminal prosecutions applies a standard which examines whether there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction arising out of the evidence, and whether it is in the public interest to proceed with a prosecution,” Ewenson said in the report. “As is evident in this case, the application of these two different standards to the same investigation will, in some cases, result in different conclusions regarding the same file.” In an email to APTN News, Ewenson said “we send our completed investigations to ACPS for an opinion prior to laying a charge. If they find that the investigation meets their standard for prosecution then we will lay a charge, if they find it does not then we won’t. “This is a process followed on all investigations where we have found reasonable and probable grounds that an offence was committed.” APTN reached out to the ACPS but has so far not heard back Crown prosecutors get outside opinion in 2022 case In 2022, an Edmonton police officer was being investigated for his involvement in an incident in police cells that resulted in a man suffering a skull fracture. The man who was injured, Everett Rain is now suing the officers involved as well as the former chief of police, Dale McFee. ASIRT said it’s “investigation provided reasonable grounds to believe that an offense had been committed,” in the case. One of the officers, Michael Zacharuk was charged with assault causing bodily harm “following a review of the investigation and having been advised that the ACPS was of the opinion that the evidence met their standard for prosecution,” a Feb.17, 2022 ASIRT release said. However, the Crown decided to stay the proceedings after getting an out-of-province expert opinion on use-of-force. Rain’s case against the officers and former chief is ongoing. Continue Reading