REVIEW BOARD
Lawyer says she hasn’t been provided access to evidence.
A Halifax criminal lawyer says she’s blindfolded in her quest to prove Cape Breton Regional Police investigators were negligent in their investigation into the death of 17-year-old Joneil Hanna.
It’s been over a month since Laura McCarthy took on the case that will be argued before the Nova Scotia Review Board at a public hearing in Sydney. But McCarthy is so far stymied in her attempt to build a case against the officers because she’s so far not been provided evidence that was collected by the Cape Breton force during its investigation. She’s also not clear what information she and her client John Parr (Hanna’s father) are entitled to.
“We feel like we’re working with a bit of a blindfold,” said McCarthy. “There isn’t full, frank disclosure.”
“We are the ones that have to place evidence before the police board as complainants. We’re going to do so from a very limited perspective.”
More than a year has gone by since Hanna was struck and killed while walking home from a graduation party in Leitches Creek during the early morning hours of June 10, 2018. It’s also been almost a year since Parr filed his complaint to the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner, accusing investigators of misconduct in the case.
He’s reached the final hearing stage in his quest for Cape Breton Regional Police to be held accountable for what he considers to be their failing to take steps to prevent his son’s death and afterwards neglecting to conduct a proper investigation.
“I just hope that we’re given a fair chance,” said Parr. “We should be able to see most, if not all, of the information they used to reach their conclusion so we can prove that they were negligent.”
McCarthy’s confident she can be successful but being given access to as much disclosure as possible is vital, she said. Like Parr, she’s disturbed by the circumstances of the boy’s death, and that police monitoring the graduation party allowed the driver of the vehicle who struck Hanna to leave the booze-fuelled event. The driver, Hayden Laffin, was never subjected to a breath test by police. People at the party told The Chronicle Herald that Laffin had been drinking and a photo of him emerged showing Laffin at the party with a beer bottle in his hand.
The Nova Scotia Police Act does not state what, if any, evidence McCarthy is entitled to in preparation for the hearing. Jeff Garber, spokesman for the Police Complaints Commissioner, said the issue of disclosure is still being worked through by the parties involved. He said he couldn’t comment on what evidence McCarthy is entitled to.
Dalhousie University law professor Wayne MacKay considers it alarming that McCarthy is still unclear about what police evidence she can access and points to a lack of transparency in the process.
“The fact that not only the complainant but the complainant’s lawyer seems to be unclear about how the process works and what kind of information will be given suggests that the complaints process, particularly at this stage, is not as clear and as transparent as would be desired,” said MacKay.
Issues of transparency have so far plagued the complaints process. Halifax Regional Police investigators have reviewed the file and found no fault in the Cape Breton officers’ conduct. But Parr was not given the report, only a summary of it written by Cape Breton Regional Police Chief Peter McIsaac. Unsatisfied, Parr appealed to the commissioner who ordered a public hearing.
The driver of the vehicle ended up with an obstruction of justice charge. McCarthy intends to zero in on why she thinks officers failed to properly investigate a much more serious charge of criminal negligence. Laffin was permitted to leave the scene of the fatal incident by a police officer on site.
“We’re hoping to shed light on how this could have come about. I think, ultimately, this matter from my perspective seems to be more about a form of negligence. Whether I can go as far as intentional coverup, that’s to be seen.”
McCarthy is still moving forward in the case and is in the process of gathering witnesses to testify at the hearing. Once she’s provided the police evidence she’ll consult the commissioner’s office to finalize a date for the hearing. McCarthy is looking forward to making her case, especially in a public venue.
“Getting that information in the public forum where the public can hear it is really important to us and then at least you would expect that there would be a certain level of accountability on the Police Review Board panel to do the right thing,” said McCarthy.