None of the four RCMP officers involved in the Taser-related death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski will face criminal charges, Stan Lowe, the sp

The crown pathologists have determined that it was Dziekanski’s own fault that he died from being upset and being stood on by the police. Five TASER discharges had nothing to do with it. Move along, now.

CBC News
December 12, 2008

None of the four RCMP officers involved in the Taser-related death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski will face criminal charges, Stan Lowe, the spokesman for B.C.’s Criminal Justice Branch, confirmed Friday morning in Vancouver.

Dziekanski, 41, died in the secure arrivals area of Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 14, 2007, moments after he was shot with RCMP stun guns. His death ignited an international debate about the police use of stun guns.

Lowe said Friday that, after a full examination of the evidence, Crown prosecutors found it fell remarkably short of the test needed to apply criminal charges.

He revealed the officers stunned Dziekanski a total of five times with Tasers, but also said three pathologists concluded that Dziekanski did not die from the electric shocks.

Instead the pathologists concluded Dziekanski died from a combination of alcohol withdrawal, a hysterical fear of flying, lack of sleep and restraint by the officers, Lowe said.

The Crown concluded the officers involved were acting with their legal duties to detain and restrain Dziekanski as they did, Lowe said.

On Thursday, prosecutors met with Sofia Cisowski, Dziekanski’s mother, as well as her lawyer, Walter Kosteckyj, to inform them of the decision not to charge any of the officers involved.

Cisowski was unable to disclose the decision on Thursday night, but told CBC News: “I am angry. The decision will be not good for me, absolutely not.”

Kosteckyj told CBC News on Thursday that a public inquiry, which is looking into the police use of Tasers in British Columbia and Dziekanski’s death, was going to be the only way to learn about what happened to Dziekanski.

“I can tell you that I think the best forum for getting those answers is through the public inquiry … because the criminal proceeding is to determine a certain amount of guilt [whereas] the parameters of the inquiry is much wider,” said Kosteckyj.

Officers may now be able to testify at inquiry

Ten hours before Dziekanski died, he had arrived in Vancouver on a flight from Poland to take up residence in Canada.

He became agitated after waiting in the airport’s secure customs and immigrations arrival area for hours, unable to effectively communicate with anyone because he spoke limited English.

The RCMP officers called to the scene fired on him with a stun gun within 30 seconds of arriving, even though he appeared to have calmed down.

The RCMP subsequently made several public assertions about the incident that were proven false by a video recording made by a bystander.

Former B.C. Supreme Court judge Thomas Braidwood, appointed by the provincial government to conduct the public inquiry, said in October that the RCMP officers involved would be subpoenaed to testify if they did not voluntarily take part.

But the RCMP replied that its officers couldn’t give evidence at the inquiry with the possibility of charges still hanging over them.

Now that the Crown has decided not to charge the officers, it appears to clear the way for them to testify at the inquiry.