Crown may reconsider charges in Dziekanski case
30 June 2010 | 
Author: Professor |
CBC News 29 June, 2010
The Crown should review a decision not to charge the four RCMP officers involved in the death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport in 2007, says a special prosecutor.
Richard Peck was appointed to review the Braidwood report, which followed an inquiry into Dziekanski's death and the police use of Tasers.
His recommendation that charges should be reconsidered was made public Tuesday in a release issued by the province's criminal justice branch.
Peck was named special prosecutor by B.C.'s attorney general on June 18, immediately after former judge Thomas Braidwood issued his final report on Dziekanski's death. The Polish immigrant died after being stunned with an RCMP Taser several times.
The criminal justice branch issued a statement in 2008 saying a thorough review of the evidence against the four Mounties involved showed that criminal charges were not warranted.
The branch said Tuesday that Peck recommended the new review because "factual material that was not available" during the initial review was revealed during the Braidwood inquiry, which held hearings between January and September 2009.
In his report, Braidwood said the RCMP's repeated use of a Taser on Dziekanski was not necessary.
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