Police never did check: family
SYDNEY — The mother of convicted murderer Christopher Garnier was adamant Tuesday that no Cape Breton Regional Police officer was knocking on her door in February 2017 to check on whether her son was in compliance with his release conditions.
“I would know if there was knocking, I would have heard it. There was no one knocking on the side door,” testified Kim Edmunds, in appearing before a Nova Scotia Police Review Board hearing.
Edmunds said had the officer been knocking at the upstairs door of her Millville home, no one downstairs would have heard it.
“I don't believe they were at my door,” she said, adding if they were, they were knocking on the wrong door.
Edmunds is the fourth witness to testify in the scheduled two-week hearing and spent the entire day in the witness chair.
The hearing is probing into a complaint filed by Vince Garnier, Edmunds' exhusband and father of Christopher Garnier, who alleges regional police illegally arrested his son on Feb. 19, 2017.
At the time of his arrest, Christopher Garnier had been charged with second-degree murder and had been released on conditions that included he could live at his father's home in Bedford and at his mother's home in Millville provided he alerted police when he was leaving one residence for the other and his return date.
Christopher Garnier was later convicted of the charge and sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 13 years.
Edmunds' testimony is in sharp contrast to a Supreme Court judge's ruling on three counts of breaching court orders filed against Christopher Garnier.
The judge ruled that a regional police officer had indeed been knocking on the door but concluded that those in the home at the time, around 1:30 a.m., were asleep and didn't hear the knocking. Garnier was found not guilty after the judge ruled he did not intentionally breach his conditions.
Jean MacKenna, chair of the review board and a member of the hearing panel, said the panel is obligated to accept the finding of fact from the Supreme Court that police did do a compliance check.
The conduct of four regional police officers is being examined in the hearing. Another issue the three-member hearing panel will hear testimony involves photographs taken by regional police in
February 2017 of the exterior of Edmunds' property. Vince Garnier contends the photos were taken illegally because police did not have permission to be on the property to take the shots.
The officers named in the complaint are Const. Steve Campbell, Const. Gary Fraser, Const. Dennis MacSween and Const. Troy Walker who are each represented by lawyers at the hearing.
Edmunds testified that she, her son and his then girlfriend went to bed shortly after 1 a.m. and that she didn't fall asleep until after 2:20 a.m. because she remembers looking at the clock shortly before falling asleep.
“I was waiting for someone to knock at the door all night,” said Edmunds, knowing her son had been subject to numerous police checks while living in Bedford.
During one prior visit to her home in December 2016, Edmunds said regional police did do a compliance check at her home so she was somewhat familiar with the process.
Christopher Garnier came to Cape Breton in February 2017 for a weekend visit and was arrested two days after arriving and charged with breaching his release conditions.
Edmunds, Vince Garnier and his current wife had all signed on as sureties for Christopher Garnier and were responsible to ensure he abided by all the conditions or risk losing some or all property and cash posted for his release.
Christopher Garnier was notified the day after arriving in Cape Breton that Halifax police were looking for him having done a compliance check at his father's home finding no one home.
Edmunds said her son called Halifax police and after that conversation told her everything was fine. The following day he was arrested.
Edmunds home in Millville has a separate basement entrance along with two entrances on the main floor of the home.
The hearing continues today when the first police witness is expected to testify.