Ccop who punched diabetic loses pay
An RCMP disciplinary board has fined a Kamloops officer two days’ pay after he punched a diabetic man in the head because he thought, incorrectly, that the man was driving drunk.
In a recent decision, the board found Const. Burke Huschi used “excessive force” without first investigating the circumstances of the situation.
On June 30, 2005, a blue pickup drove through the gate at a parking control booth at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, crossed a four-lane road without stopping and then came to a stop.
Two nurses who witnessed the incident went up to the truck and saw the driver, Howard Oakland, staring straight ahead, his hands on the steering wheel.
After the man failed to respond to their questions, they suspected he might have a medical condition.
However, when Huschi arrived on the scene, he “brushed past the witnesses without giving them an opportunity to speak and went directly to the driver’s door,” said the board’s decision.
Huschi demanded Oakland exit the truck and, when Oakland failed to comply, handcuffed one of his wrists and tried to pull him out.
“Const. Huschi then struck the driver once in the head and again on the upper arms and chest,” the decision states.
A second officer soon arrived and the two were able to pull Oakland out of the truck.
“At this point, a diabetic alert card was discovered in the driver’s effects,” the decision states. “The driver was assessed by the [paramedics] and found to have low blood sugar.”
Huschi was eventually charged with assault and, on Oct. 17, 2006, was found guilty and given a conditional discharge - meaning he won’t have a criminal record as long as he takes anger management counselling.
Huschi filed an appeal, which was dismissed.
In July, he appeared before an RCMP disciplinary board made up of three senior officers.
The board’s decision was released in response to a request from The Vancouver Sun.
The board found Huschi was guilty of “disgraceful” conduct because he resorted to force without first speaking to those at the scene or advising Oakland he was under arrest.
However, the board also noted Huschi has an “impeccable” work history and his assault on Oakland was “spontaneous” and not a calculated act.
Reached by phone at the Kamloops detachment, Huschi refused to comment on the disciplinary case.
A man who had his leg broken in an alleged assault by an RCMP officer says he’s been told by police they won’t be following up on his complaint about the incident.
Devon Herback was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken leg during an encounter with RCMP Constable Scot Newberry outside a Yellowknife nightclub in October 2004.
Herback was charged with assaulting a police officer, but a trial judge threw out the charge and criticized Newberry for using “excessive force” during the arrest.
Now, Herback says, he’s not sure how to proceed with his complaint.
Herback says Justice Canada approached him with two choices about how to deal with the incident: he could have Cnst. Newberry charged, or have the matter dealt with through restorative justice.
Restorative justice typically includes the victim and accused sitting down together before a panel of community members.
Herback says he was told he had time to meet with his family before making a decision.
But he says that on Wednesday, when he went to the RCMP in his hometown of Fort Smith to file a complaint against Newberry, the RCMP told him the case had already been dealt with through alternative measures.
“I thought I had a choice when I went down there, but I guess it doesn’t seem like I did,” he says. “I was told that I could take my time to decide, and when I had decided the choice wasn’t mine anymore.”
Herback says the police told him they could take the complaint, but it wouldn’t go anywhere.
Stuart Whitley, the federal director of justice for the N.W.T., told CBC in February that both Herback and his mother had agreed to the restorative justice approach.
They both say that is untrue.
According to Whitley, the restorative justice meeting was scheduled for Thursday.
Justice Canada has declined to comment about how or if the case is being handled, saying that would damage the process of restorative justice.
The RCMP have not returned phone calls on the matter but did confirm that Newberry is back on active duty.
Merritt RCMP officer charged with assault
February 11th, 2006 — Mounties Charged, Abuse By Mounties, RCMP
An RCMP officer in Merritt has been charged with aggravated assault, forcible confinement and two counts of obstructing justice after a complaint by a local man who accused police of beating him and dropping him off in a remote area.
Constable Saxon Peters, who has been suspended with pay since the alleged incident this past August, is scheduled to appear before the Provincial Court in Kamloops to answer the charges. A date for that appearance has not been set.
A second officer who was also allegedly involved also remains suspended with pay. Criminal charges are not pending in the second officer’s case, but a code of conduct review is ongoing.
Constable Peters, the second police officer and an auxiliary constable who has since had his status revoked were allegedly working Aug. 19, when Glenn Shuter, an aboriginal man, was severely beaten and dropped off in the bush.
Mr. Shuter, 26, claims that police accused him of stealing a bicycle and that he was punched in the face, midsection and ribs by one officer while two others watched. The beating lasted 10 minutes, Mr. Shuter alleged, and it left him with busted teeth, a black eye and a swollen ear.
Mr. Shuter also said that he was driven about 10 kilometres out of town and dropped off.
The term “starlight tours” has been used to describe the controversial police practice of transporting someone to an area from which they have to walk back a long distance.
In 2004, two Saskatoon police officers were fired 14 years after 17-year-old Neil Stonechild froze to death on the city’s outskirts, after being in custody. The officers are appealing the decision, saying they never saw the teenager that night.
Vancouver police have also had their own problems. Two officers were fired for their roles in the beatings of three suspected drug dealers after taking them from Granville Street to Stanley Park.
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Justice system bullying victim, relative says
February 7th, 2006 — Abuse By Mounties, RCMP
Feb 7 2006 - CBC News
The aunt of a man who had his leg broken in an alleged assault by an RCMP officer says the family is being pressured to deal with the matter outside of the court.
Denise Yuhas refutes assertions by a Crown prosecutor that the family of Devon Herback wants to deal with the matter using the restorative justice system.
Herback was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken leg during an encounter with RCMP Constable Scot Newberry in October 2004.
In dismissing charges of assaulting a police officer against Herback a few months later, Chief Judge Brian Bruser said he felt “there is no doubt that what occurred was excessive force in the course of an unlawful arrest”.
On Monday the federal director of justice for the N.W.T. said there’s enough evidence to charge Newberry with assault causing bodily harm.
But Stuart Whitley said Herback and his mother agreed to deal with the matter through a restorative justice process.
* FROM FEB. 6, 2006: Mountie not getting preferred treatment, says Crown
Yuhas, however, says there’s been no such agreement.
“I feel like they’re being bullied, and I think that’s how she feels too,” she says. “Miscommunication, I’m not sure what it is, but I can tell you for sure that they’re not going to be at that meeting on [February] 23.”
Whitley said a restorative justice meeting on the matter had tentatively been set for that date.
That also came as a surprise to the director of the committee that administers restorative justice in Yellowknife.
Lydia Bardak says no one has talked to her about dealing with the matter through restorative justice.
