Officer testifies talk of cash for police information was just a ‘running joke’
Texts between two Calgary police officers discussing payments for information from police databanks were made in jest, one of them testified Wednesday.
Bryan Morton admitted providing information to then-suspended Calgary officer Anthony Braile and former Calgary Police Service member Steve Walton.
But Morton insisted he was never paid for the data, which came from the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), or the Police Information Management System (PIMS) databases.
He acknowledged it was a breach of police policy to do CPIC and PIMS checks for the two men, but insisted he stopped short of requesting money for the information.
Morton faces four charges, including bribery, in connection with the alleged police corruption case involving months of surveillance on a woman embroiled in a childcustody dispute with a wealthy Calgary man.
The Crown contends that Akele Taylor was the victim of ongoing criminal harassment as a result of the surveillance organized by Walton and paid for by Ken Carter.
During Morton’s cross-examination by prosecutor Leah Boyd, she repeatedly suggested searches done by him at Walton’s request were paid for at $1,000 each.
But Morton insisted the numerous cheques he received from Walton and Walton’s wife Heather’s account, totalling $81,520, were for off-duty security work, not the database searches.
Boyd led the accused through several text exchanges in which Morton mentioned getting paid $1,000 for searches, some of them punctuated with “lols.”
“I did not think anyone, especially Steve Walton, would pay $1,000 for a single CPIC check,” Morton said. “It was a running joke.”
The first search he did was on a licence plate on the car Taylor had been driving at the time to determine the name of the registered owner.
That occurred just days before Morton, Braile and Walton went to Edmonton to spy on Taylor attending a court-ordered psychiatric assessment as part of the custody dispute.
“I did not do that for Mr. Braile so I would get paid $1,000,” he testified.
But Boyd noted one text referring to the database check suggested he was getting paid.
The prosecutor also led Morton to a series of text exchanges about the Jan. 31, 2013, surveillance in Edmonton.
The suspended constable had earlier told defence lawyer Jim Lutz he never saw Taylor that day and spent the entire surveillance in his vehicle behind a professional building. But in the texts, Boyd noted Morton discussed being inside the building. “It’s a long time ago,” he said of not remembering getting out of his SUV. “I really don’t remember being in the building, but I’m reading this, so it appears I was.”
Boyd also suggested the timing of payments didn’t fit with Morton’s claim he was being paid for security work at an annual general meeting of an oil company.
She noted he received a $4,000 cheque on April 5, 2013, after doing data checks for Walton on Jan. 28, Feb. 16, Feb. 21, and March 26 of that year.
Along with Morton and Braile, who has since been fired from CPS for unrelated reasons, suspended sergeant Bradford McNish is also charged. He is expected to testify Thursday.