Ex-Edmonton mayor Mandel voted Alberta Party leader

One of three Calgary police officers facing criminal charges denied Tuesday ever conducting covert surveillance of a woman who says she was a victim of harassment.

Bryan Morton, currently under suspension from the Calgary Police Service, said he was never paid to do background searches of any individuals.

But Morton, who faces charges of criminal harassment, bribery, breach of trust by a public official and unlawfully using a police computer system, acknowledged doing side work for former officer Steve Walton.

He said most of the $1,000-a-day work he did for Walton involved security detail for an oil company and its CEO.

Morton admitted he received multiple cheques from the account of Walton and Walton’s wife, Heather.

Defence lawyer Jim Lutz took him through a document noting payments in 2013 and 2014, from the Waltons, totalling $81,520, some of which was used to pay other security team members.

“Every $1,000 listed there is for a day of work,” Morton testified at his Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench trial.

He said he recognized the name Akele Taylor, the woman he’s accused of harassing through months of constant surveillance, but had never seen her while working for Walton.

“Other than the day that she was in this courtroom, I have never seen that person in my life,” Morton said.

“I’ve never seen her, ever, other than a photograph.”

Morton did admit going to Edmonton to do surveillance on Taylor, but didn’t spot her attending a court-ordered psychiatric appointment.

He was aware Taylor and her former boyfriend, Ken Carter, were involved in a child-custody dispute and that Walton was working for Carter.

“I knew that he was separated from Akele Taylor, who I was told was an escort and heavy drug user, and I knew that they were having issues to deal with the child,” he told Lutz.

On Jan. 31, 2013, he went to Edmonton to keep watch on a medical office, “to sit on this building and see if the female, Akele Taylor, came out of the building,” he said.

“She had a court-ordered appointment and they wanted to know if she actually attended it,” he said.

“They were also curious as to what she was driving at the time.”

One of his co-accused, Anthony Braile, and Walton were watching the front of the building, and at one point told him she had left, Morton said.

He also admitted being sent to a Cougar Ridge residence (Taylor lived in that area for a period of time) under Walton’s instructions, to keep an eye out for a particular child.

He said the request came from lawyer Jane Hoffman, whom court earlier heard represented Carter.

Morton did admit doing police databank checks on the Canadian Police Information Centre or Police Information Management System for Walton and Braile, but he believed they would be legitimate searches involving potential criminal behaviour.

“Did you receive any money for doing CPIC or PIMPS checks for the Waltons, or anybody else?” Lutz asked.

“No,” he replied. Morton will be cross-examined by lawyers for his co-accused and the Crown on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a bid by the third accused, Bradford McNish, to have one of his charges stayed before he testifies was denied by Justice Bryan Mahoney.