VANCOUVER -- A former Mountie who was involved in Robert Dziekanski's
death and was later held up by the force as an example of a bad apple
within its ranks was convicted Friday of perjury for his testimony at a
public inquiry.
Former corporal Benjamin (Monty) Robinson was charged along with three
other officers for their testimony at hearings that examined what
happened when Dziekanski was stunned with a Taser at Vancouver's airport
and died in October 2007.
He is the second of the officers to be convicted of perjury. One officer was acquitted and another is awaiting a verdict.
Robinson's case had the most notoriety. He was the senior officer on
the scene at the airport and was later convicted of obstruction of
justice in an unrelated case involving a fatal vehicle accident.
The four officers were summoned to Vancouver's airport in the early
morning of Oct. 14, 2007, after Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant who spoke
no English, started throwing furniture in the international terminal.
Within seconds of the officers' arrival, one of them stunned Dziekanski
repeatedly with a Taser.
The Crown alleged the four officers colluded on a story to tell
homicide investigators and then lied at the public inquiry to explain
why their initial accounts contradicted an amateur video.
B.C. Supreme Court Judge Nathan Smith said the officers all made
similar mistakes, notably their incorrect assertion that Dziekanski had
to be wrestled to the ground, and the only explanation was that they
worked together.
"I simply do not believe that a police officer of his experience could
make such a crucial mistake in these circumstances," Smith said as
Robinson listened from the prisoner's dock.
"I agree with the Crown that he had a direct motive to exaggerate the
threat posed by Mr. Dziekanski and to justify the response to that
threat."
Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, sat in court wiping her eyes as the judge read the verdict.
"A small amount of justice has happened today and I'm shaking because I'm so excited," Cisowski said outside court.
"That is a long time to wait, and they probably will appeal. For me, it's never finished."
The Crown also alleged the officers met in the Vancouver area in the
days or weeks before testifying at the inquiry in early 2009 to plan
their testimony, but the judge said he wasn't convinced beyond a
reasonable doubt that such a meeting took place.
The Crown has not explained how the public should reconcile the
differing verdicts, especially since the prosecutors' theory was that
all four officers worked together to tell the same lies.
Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie said judges can come to different
conclusion in cases that involve somewhat different evidence. He did not
elaborate but urged the public to read the decisions in each case.
Robinson, who is in his mid-40s, left the RCMP in 2012.
Earlier that year, he was convicted of obstruction of justice in an unrelated case.
Robinson was behind the wheel in October 2008 when his vehicle struck
and killed a 21-year-old motorcyclist in Delta, south of Vancouver. He
told his trial that immediately after the crash he went home and drank
two shots of vodka to "calm his nerves."
A judge concluded Robinson had used his RCMP training in an attempt to
fend off accusations of impaired driving. He was given a conditional
sentence of 12 months.
The RCMP's top officer in B.C., Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens, held
up the case as an example of the challenges facing the force when it
wants to deal with problem officers. Callens said he was "outraged" with
Robinson's conviction and said it demonstrated the need to change the
law that governs how Mounties can be disciplined or fired.
Const. Bill Bentley was acquitted of the perjury charge in 2013, though the Crown is appealing the verdict.
Const. Kwesi Millington was convicted last month and is awaiting a sentencing hearing.
Const. Gerry Rundel's trial has finished and he is waiting for a verdict.
