Robert Dziekanski Taser death: Kwesi Millington guilty of perjury

[NEWB]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/robert-dziekanski-taser-death-kwesi-millington-guilty-of-perjury-1.2964744


Const. Kwesi Millington, the RCMP officer who fired a Taser the night Robert Dziekanski died eight years ago, has been found guilty of perjury.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled today that Millington lied at the Braidwood inquiry into the fatal confrontation at Vancouver's International Airport in 2007.

Millington was accused of lying no less than 10 times at the inquiry, including about whether he thought Dziekanski was standing or on the ground after the first charge from the Taser.

The prosecutors at the perjury trial argued that Millington and his fellow officers conspired to lie and exaggerated the threat Dziekanksi posed in order to justify their use of force.

There's no direct evidence of that, but the prosecutor told the judge they just needed to show the officers had the opportunity to collude.


Perjury charges were laid against Const. Gerry Rundel, Const. Bill Bentley, Cpl. Monty Robinson and Const. Kwesi Millington, clockwise from top left, in connection with their testimony at the Braidwood inquiry. (CBC)
At his trial, Millington acknowledged he made mistakes in describing what happened, but insisted they were the product of a fast-moving and traumatic situation.

His lawyer argued Millington had no reason to lie, because the moment Dziekanski picked up a stapler, it became a weapon that justified the officer's use of force.

The special prosecutors' argument that the four officers colluded to tell lies has failed in court once previously, when Const. Bill Bentley was acquitted of perjury in 2013. The Crown is appealing that verdict.

Millington has remained on duty with the RCMP during his trial, but has been essentially sidelined from regular duties.


With files from Curt Petrovitch

[mark-edmonton]

Wow! Oh my god! He has a stapler!! Somebody help me! Lol what a joke! Shows that they are looking for justification!

[elkdump]

That sorry excuse for RCMP Officers that day at YVR were no less thugs and mercenaries than Hitlers or Saddam Hussein's secret police , bullying and murdering with expected Govt impunity ,,

I sincerely hope they all get prison time , duke it out with some real tough guys for a change ! :angry3:

[recce43]

We better register our staplers

[Gramps.257]

I do believe that once Robert Dziekanski picked up the stapler it became a weapon,and as soon as the police officers started to lie they were guilty of murder.

[grouse_hunter]

The tip of the iceberg...

[twofifty]

However this took 8 years - 8 years on full pay and light duties.

It has been well established the RCMP is badly in need of serious reform.
This case is just another example of the institution circling the wagons around one of their own, who happens to be a lying thug.

[CanuckShooter]

However this took 8 years - 8 years on full pay and light duties.

It has been well established the RCMP is badly in need of serious reform.
This case is just another example of the institution circling the wagons around one of their own, who happens to be a lying thug.


Cases like this should never take this long to get into court....BS.

[silverdoctor]

Look at Monty "full of booze" Robinson, got off pretty much scott free with drinking and driving - then killing a kid.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/no-jail-time-for-disgraced-ex-mountie-monty-robinson-1.1241676

[From The Hip]

I am disgusted by this incident and even more disgusted by how the 4 members of the RCMP who murdered the guy colluded to cover it up.The guy was stuck in an airport for hours after a very long flight so no doubt he would be agitated BUT a stapler is not a weapon.I dont speak Polish nor do I speak Thai/French/Nepalese but I do register it when I hear a foreign langauge.I do regognize langauges though and much to the surprise to a gal when I sussed out her as Austrian when she ordered a cup of coffee ahead of me.

This guy got fried to death by taser by A-holes who have tried to cover up their incompetance with collusion.....they deserve to go down hard.

Wish I had been there at the time as my sister in law is Polish and I would have recognized the langauge and put out a call to my sister in law on the cell phone and acted as a go between so as to establish a conversation....lord knows though if I tried to do that I would have been doing the funky chicken after getting tasered for speaking up.

Brandishing a machete is a threatening act.....holding a stapler is not.

FTH

[Nicevenn]

This took far too long. Shame on the justice system for allowing this to take so long too! What a tragic ending to someone arriving here to begin a new life, with what must have been great anticipation and hope, to our polite and peaceful country.
Finally! I hope his family can begin to have some closure now that the truth is coming out. The video footage was far too much truth and proof for most Canadians.

[twofifty]

Since the Dziekanski killing I've apologized to the several Poles that I met hereabouts. They all knew about the murder and knew of the RCMP collusion that surrounded the inquest.

Hmmm, the RCMP apologists have yet to pipe up on this thread.

[connexion123]

Hang em high

[The Cook]

Pretty hard to respect an institution after the Vancouver airport tasering and all the other shenanigans the folks in red have been pulling off, all I can say is thank the good lord for cell phone cameras or it would be he said she said and we all know the a** h**le judges always side with the police.

[Leeper]

I don't think most people understand the stress that builds up from carrying a taser and not having an opportunity to use it. And, who amongst us would want to risk having our lips stapled together? It could happen!
Just speaking up for the other side.

[HalfBreed]

Hmmm, the RCMP apologists have yet to pipe up on this thread.

Hard to argue the truth.

[NEWB]

Milton Waddams: [talking on the phone] And I said, I don't care if they lay me off either, because I told, I told Bill that if they move my desk one more time, then, then I'm, I'm quitting, I'm going to quit. And, and I told Don too, because they've moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were merry, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire...

[ctd]

All you guys want is blood against the RCMP that is until one of them gets killed or hurt in the line of duty, you then want to know why they didn't use their tools at hand.

I don't agree with any excuses about the Officers Attitude towards making a cover story. That's just not acceptable. But I bet anyone of you involved in a killing would sit down with your buddy's involved and get your story straight before the Police showed up.
You must remember that they know the public wants blood anytime a Police Member is involved in a incident where a civilian gets hurt. No matter what the situation.

How many people were involved in the chain of events that lead up to the incident?
At this time the Taser was the be all end all non lethal use of force for the Police. Turns out it can be deadly.

How about those Officers in Rimby the other day. Two Officers lost control of the situation and the criminal took one gun away from him. Two Officers were overcome by a drunk guy. Go figure.
Had they of pulled their Guns/ tasers out and used them the same group that makes fun of them would be crying foul about how they couldn't subdue a drunk guy. Had to use excessive force.

No matter what a Police Officer does they are damned if the do and damned if they don't.

If you think and know you can do a better job, join the force and pass on your expertise.

I think morals of society have fallen, we have strayed far from right from wrong. We have also strayed from respect for ourselves and others. Until we regain control of ourselves and our morals we will continue to slide down the mountain we have put ourselves on top of made from our so called high standards.

let the thrashing begin

[Cappy]

A weapon can be anything you make it to be. We draw our DNA from cavemen who started off beating each other with rocks and sticks. Some people are more in touch with that DNA then others. I've seen bottles, belts, sticks, signs, beer mugs, saw a chair once and a lamp, pool ball in a sock the usual bats and clubs. Have observed the effects of a guy stabbed with a pencil (nasty). Knuckle dusters, construction barricade, bricks, lots of women beating each other with purses, in fact I got hit with a heavy sports bag once that just about knocked me off my feet...hehe funny incident that one was. We teach women in self defense classes to utilize everything and anything to fight off an attacker, keys, perfume bottle whatever they have.

Those of you who think an office stapler can't be used as a weapon just aren't in touch with that part of their DNA.I can guarantee that if in a fight you don't get it away from me there is a strong potential I will cut you open and knock you silly with it. Possibly knock you on your back side, break you hands and fingers with it and if you haven't succeeded in ending this encounter yet, then yes Mr. Leeper I could choose to staple your lips shut with it. I am not that type of person in any way, just making a point. I have made a career of dealing with extremely violent people and have seen first hand what they are capable and what seemingly normal people will do in times of high stress and lack of cognitive thinking.

Anytime you are in a fight, no matter how good you are you are one punch/kick slipped footing etc from having you butt handed to you.

All that being said. A cop lies on the stand...he/she is done and should no longer have a career.

[elkhunter11]

All you guys want is blood against the RCMP that is until one of them gets killed or hurt in the line of duty, you then want to know why they didn't use their tools at hand.

I don't agree with any excuses about the Officers Attitude towards making a cover story. That's just not acceptable. But I bet anyone of you involved in a killing would sit down with your buddy's involved and get your story straight before the Police showed up.
You must remember that they know the public wants blood anytime a Police Member is involved in a incident where a civilian gets hurt. No matter what the situation.

How many people were involved in the chain of events that lead up to the incident?
At this time the Taser was the be all end all non lethal use of force for the Police. Turns out it can be deadly.

How about those Officers in Rimby the other day. Two Officers lost control of the situation and the criminal took one gun away from him. Two Officers were overcome by a drunk guy. Go figure.
Had they of pulled their Guns/ tasers out and used them the same group that makes fun of them would be crying foul about how they couldn't subdue a drunk guy. Had to use excessive force.

No matter what a Police Officer does they are damned if the do and damned if they don't.

If you think and know you can do a better job, join the force and pass on your expertise.

I think morals of society have fallen, we have strayed far from right from wrong. We have also strayed from respect for ourselves and others. Until we regain control of ourselves and our morals we will continue to slide down the mountain we have put ourselves on top of made from our so called high standards.

let the thrashing begin

Lets just skip all of your B.S. and go straight to why the officer was on trial.

He was charged with perjury, and the judge found him GUILTY as charged.

The rest of the nonsense that you posted doesn't change that one bit.

[kingrat]

would anyone on here go to another country and yell and scream and throw stuff in an airport then try to fight the police when they show up? Not saying he deserved it but come on to call it murder thats a little stretch. Use only as much force as neccesary.

[kingrat]

Anytime you are in a fight, no matter how good you are you are one punch/kick slipped footing etc from having you butt handed to you.

or killed

[Ron J]

I don't think there is any excuse for the RCMP members lying after the fact, but does anyone really think that they would have used the Taser if they had known it was going to kill the guy?

[antmai]

Lying is unacceptable, especially being held accountable to the public's faith in your position. I think they deserve more than a slap on the wrist, including losing their jobs and criminal charges, and in a timelier manner.

Disobeying a lawful order and arming yourself, yes-it's a weapon, deserves action through reciprocation of force. They didn't shoot him, they used a less-lethal alternative. The outcome was unpredictable, unfortunate for sure, but the actions were taken for a reason. IMO, a very justified reason.

[Got Juice?]

Devils advocate.

I disagree with the findings of the Braithwaite inquiry. I believe the Police were justified in their actions in the airport. A Stapler can be used as a weapon, as can a bic pen, etc etc..

Police, Polizei, pretty damn universal no matter what language you speak. Do not comply, and you can ride the lightning for all i care.

Secondly, why were the RCMP called in>? Must have been more serious than JUST the video, YVR has a lot of security on duty.

If YVR security couldn't handle this fella, maybe that is why the Police were called in the first place?


I do agree the officers were/are guilty of perjury. And should be off the force for that alone. Something about swearing an oath.... I think I read somewhere that swearing an oath is serious business, as is giving evidence under oath at a trial.

[rem338win]

Lets just skip all of your B.S. and go straight to why the officer was on trial.

He was charged with perjury, and the judge found him GUILTY as charged.

The rest of the nonsense that you posted doesn't change that one bit.

This is exactly it. The media did not help the public in understanding this case at all. Most of the people here are still spouting off the misinformation and lies they used to sensationalize the entire event.

This entire case was big news and the real reasons have always been on the sidelines so they could ignorantly sensationalize what people find interesting.

Here is he big news:
- the RCMP on scene did a poor job of handling the situation. Other very real options could have been taken to prevent this result.
- the officers did collude before and after
- lies were told instead of owning the issues and dealing with them
- the executive directly and indirectly have given perception of supporting this poor reaction And the dishonesty
- the RCMP did obstruct the due course of the investigation.

As far as the "victim" and his mother: people need to dig a little more to understand the facts here. If you do your compassion may just wain a little.

[ctd]

How would all of you experts of dealt with the situation? Before during and after.
Please do tell.

Elkhunter11
Thanks one man's nonsense is another view point.

I don't disagree with the case against the Officer. He lied according to the court and now he has to pay the consequences.
Unless one is involved in a situation such as this, things escalate quickly and some times you don't remember things exactly thre way they happened, its called traumatic memory loss. Then when you do a debrief some things come back to you while others slip out of memory. I AM NOT SURE if this played a role in this or not.
Just from watching the original video to hearing the storys about what happened. People already had their opinions on how they thought things were done wrong.
The simple fact remains no matter how they handled the situation the exact same people would complain either way.
They would want the RCMP held accountable fora lack action or to much action.

[blackpheasant]

How would all of you experts of dealt with the situation? Before during and after.
Please do tell.

Elkhunter11
Thanks one man's nonsense is another view point.

I don't disagree with the case against the Officer. He lied according to the court and now he has to pay the consequences.
Unless one is involved in a situation such as this, things escalate quickly and some times you don't remember things exactly thre way they happened, its called traumatic memory loss. Then when you do a debrief some things come back to you while others slip out of memory. I AM NOT SURE if this played a role in this or not.
Just from watching the original video to hearing the storys about what happened. People already had their opinions on how they thought things were done wrong.
The simple fact remains no matter how they handled the situation the exact same people would complain either way.
They would want the RCMP held accountable fora lack action or to much action.

Ya were just a bunch of complainers, we should just shut up right...and the guy that caught the whole thing on his camera phone should have been arrested right?

[Mr Conservation]

I often wonder why the staff at YVR are not held accountable for their part in this tragedy. International arrivals area - man sitting there for hours. Mother sitting out in the arrivals area waiting for her son. Could airport staff not made some enquiries about who she was waiting for ?? Could the CBSA staff have assisted ?? Where was YVR security - hiding behind a post waiting for someone else to do their job ??

If I remember correctly, in the evidence from the Braidwood enquiry, an airport employee asked her boss if she could go speak to the person. She believed she may have spoken the same language as the man sitting in the arrivals area. Her boss denied her the opportunity. This alone could have prevented the tragedy that followed.

Its very easy to blame the police for everything that transpired. However, we seem to forget the chain of events that led to their being called in the first place.


Mr. Conservation

[elkhunter11]

Elkhunter11
Thanks one man's nonsense is another view point.

Given that the topic of this thread is the conviction for perjury, pretty much everything in your previous post was totally irrelevant , and therefore nothing more than nonsense as far as the topic is concerned.

I don't disagree with the case against the Officer. He lied according to the court and now he has to pay the consequences.

Those two sentences say more concerning the topic of the thread, than your entire previous post. And as far as the topic of this thread is concerned, those two sentences are all that really matter.

Some people want to go into the details of what occurred at the airport, some even want to drag other unrelated incidents into the discussion, but the simple fact is that the officer was on trial for committing perjury during the inquiry following the incident. He wasn't on trial for his participation during the actual incident that occurred at the airport, so the events of that incident are irrelevant to this topic.

[marxman]

why isnt there a profiling accusation they must have known he was some kind of foreigner

[ctd]

Be interesting when the appeal happens.

[sask]

Some people want to go into the details of what occurred at the airport, some even want to drag other unrelated incidents into the discussion, but the simple fact is that the officer was on trial for committing perjury during the inquiry following the incident. He wasn't on trial for his participation during the actual incident that occurred at the airport, so the events of that incident are irrelevant to this topic.

Simple as this . Nothing to do with the other

[Big_Willy]

I think the days of earning a position with ANY police service based on YOUR individual merits, must return. I really think the quality of police officers has and will continue to suffer where external factors are taken into account in the hiring equation. Too often these days, the bar is lowered for PC considerations.

I do not believe that most of the negative events surrounding police would happen "in the old days" because the old, monolithic, militaristic, police culture would not stand for it.

Read into this comment what you will, I believe it to be fundamentally true.


-Willy

[ctd]

The incident that took place and the events prior to and including after are what is being questioned by the Prosecution. As they laid the foundation for the actual charges of Perjury.

The Officers recollection of what happened is just that, how he remembered it.
Then the video evidence came out showing how it actually went down. The Officer recanted his statement and they called him a liar. His story is not that much different then the video from what I have read and watched. Maybe I am reading the wrong articles. In the confusion of what is going on you memory is not always 100%

To solve this problem in the future all Officers should be wearing front and rear cameras with voice. They should never attend a scene without a senior Officer and should always have a hot line to interpreters for every language.
Simple and easy.

This is nothing more then a WITCH HUNT to place blame to make people feel satisfied. The events at the airport could have been handled 100 different ways. But they weren't.

[Big_Willy]

FYI,

I think Monty Robinson was a Corporal and one of the four responders. Monty is a story...

Video was present. Didn't affect the outcome one bit.

-Willy



The incident that took place and the events prior to and including after are what is being questioned by the Prosecution. As they laid the foundation for the actual charges of Perjury.

The Officers recollection of what happened is just that, how he remembered it.
Then the video evidence came out showing how it actually went down. The Officer recanted his statement and they called him a liar. His story is not that much different then the video from what I have read and watched. Maybe I am reading the wrong articles. In the confusion of what is going on you memory is not always 100%

To solve this problem in the future all Officers should be wearing front and rear cameras with voice. They should never attend a scene without a senior Officer and should always have a hot line to interpreters for every language.
Simple and easy.

This is nothing more then a WITCH HUNT to place blame to make people feel satisfied. The events at the airport could have been handled 100 different ways. But they weren't.