Prosecutors have stayed manslaughter charges against two B.C. RCMP officers in the 2017 death of an Indigenous man after a pathologist determined Dale Culver died of a heart attack, not blunt force trauma as was initially believed.
Prosecutor Joseph Saulnier told a provincial court judge in the Prince George courthouse Friday the Crown decided to end proceedings against Const. Paul Ste-Marie and Const. Jean Francois Monette after asking Ontario chief forensic pathologist Michael Pollanen to review the conclusions of the first pathologist to examine Culver’s death.
The 35-year-old Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en man died in police custody on July 18, 2017, after being arrested and struggling with police.
His death and its aftermath have been viewed by civil rights advocates and First Nations leadership groups as a key test of the B.C. justice system’s ability to hold police accountable, with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) saying it believes it is the first time law enforcement in the province had been charged in the death of an Indigenous man.
But new findings shared by Crown counsel Friday doomed the case against Ste-Marie and Monette.
“Obviously Dale Culver did not deserve to die, should not have died that day,” Saulnier told Judge Paul Dohm. “However, in light of the new evidence there is no basis to find these accused legally culpable for his death.”
Does Canada not use the eggshell skull rule when determining liability for injuries?
Apparently we do https://www.courthouselibrary.ca/how-we-can-help/our-legal-knowledge-base/thin-skull-crumbling-skull
But I guess it doesn’t apply to cops.
The system doesn’t want to hold cops accountable for being terrible people, so they found a way out. They probably don’t want to set a precedent of cops being found guilty of killing indigenous people.
If they wouldn’t have beat him, would he have had a heart attack? That’s the real fucking question
Why where the cops detained him:
According to a statement issued Friday by the B.C. Prosecution Service, Culver was arrested in downtown Prince George after police responded to a call about a suspicious man on foot looking into cars.
Culver was in the area, riding a BMX bike without a helmet. A chase and fight ensued after he refused to stop for a police officer, resulting in a call for assistance from all other officers in the area.
“Const. Ste-Marie was the first to arrive. He … punched Mr. Culver at least once in the head. The next officer arrived, Const. Monette, who kicked or kneed him in the head or upper body,” according to the statement.
“When paramedics arrived, Mr. Culver was initially responsive. He stood up outside the vehicle, but then collapsed and died 29 minutes after the conclusion of his interaction with the police, which was approximately three minutes.”
What happened? "Saulnier said Pollanen’s report concluded Culver died of cardiac arrest brought on by sustained use of methamphetamines and the struggle with police “contributed to or exacerbated his conditions.”
