Ex-mountie’s sexual assault conviction ‘dangerous’

Upholding the sexual assault conviction of a former Alberta Mountie would set a dangerous precedent, his lawyer argued Tuesday.

Defence counsel Brendan Miller said the “pat down” then-const. Elliott Teed conducted on a female suspect, in which she says he fondled her breasts, was simply a search.

“If this conviction is upheld, we submit this will … set a dangerous precedent for police officers in remote detachments,” Miller said.

The lawyer said Teed was searching the woman after he became concerned she might be concealing something when she initially lied about how much marijuana she had.

“He was doing a secondary search,” Miller said. “If you find that’s a sexual assault, then there are a lot of sexual assaults the police are committing.”

But Crown prosecutor Julie Morgan said the behaviour described by the complainant, which Justice Robert Hall accepted, was more than just police work.

Morgan noted Hall rejected Teed’s version, in which he said he checked the area around the woman’s breast using the edge of his hand. The woman said Teed used his open hand to brush the sides, in between and across her breasts.

The woman had been stopped at a checkstop set up by Teed and an auxiliary constable in Bow Island.

She admitted she had earlier smoked marijuana and Teed placed her under detention in the back of his police vehicle while conducting a search of her vehicle.

After Teed quizzed her further, she admitted she had more weed in a backpack in the hatch.

She was issued a 24-hour suspension, telling the officers she couldn’t afford a hotel and would have to wait it out in her vehicle.

After dropping off the auxiliary officer, Teed returned to the woman, who said he offered to return her drugs if she went for a ride with him. Assuming the request was for sex, the woman said she told Teed: “You keep my drugs and I’ll keep my dignity.” The appeal court reserved its decision.