Claims of racism by teen charged in officer's death untrue: Crown
Defence lawyer says young driver feared he would be pulled from SUV and killed
Any suggestion racism played a part in Sgt. Andrew Harnett's traffic stop of a Calgary teen charged with the officer's murder was a figment of the accused killer's imagination, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Crown lawyer Mike Ewenson said there was nothing in the conduct of Harnett and two other officers who arrived on the scene to support the teen fearing he was being racially profiled.
“At best, it's all in the young person's mind,” Ewenson told Justice Anna Loparco, in seeking a conviction against the now-19-year-old for first-degree murder in the Dec. 31, 2020, dragging death of Harnett.
“He was not thinking what the young person tells you he was thinking that night,” Ewenson said, of the accused's claim he feared Harnett was going to drag him from his vehicle and kill him.
The prosecutor noted the accused, then 17 and therefore subject to a publication ban on his identity under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, showed no signs he was concerned Harnett would attack him because he is Arabic.
In fact, Ewenson submitted, the teen was not intimidated by the officer after Harnett pulled him over for not having his headlights on while heading to a New Year's Eve party.
“He's so self-assured he calls the officer `brother' three times. He's certainly not a shrinking violet … they're talking like peers,” he said.
Ewenson said not only did the teen drag Harnett more than 400 metres from the traffic stop before the officer lost his grip on the SUV and fell into oncoming traffic, he took actions to try to dislodge the officer by jerking the steering wheel and pushing and kicking at the door.
“That vehicle's being operated by this young person at a drastically dangerous speed with a human being on the side, and then efforts are undertaken to discharge that human being into and onto a paved street.”
Ewenson said the accused's claim that his anxiety rose because Harnett asked for his name, phone number and address when he couldn't provide his learner's permit contradicted the evidence from the officer's body-worn camera video.
“The young person's not batting an eyelash when he provides these details,” Ewenson said.
“None of this caused him concern, but he's asking you to find that it did.”
The prosecutor suggested the teen fled to prevent a possible search of his borrowed SUV.
“His flight wasn't due to panic, it was due to determination to get that vehicle out of there.”
But defence lawyer Zachary Al-khatib said Loparco needed to consider the case from the perspective of a racialized youth.
“He was a young boy who panicked, he wasn't thinking,” Al-khatib said.
He cited a Supreme Court decision that said courts are required “to consider the perspective of the racialized person.”
“Historically, Indigenous, Black and racialized communities have different perspectives and experiences with practices such as street checks, carding.”
And Al-khatib said while in hindsight the accused realizes he was wrong and made a mistake, that didn't mean he had the intent to commit murder when he fled the traffic stop.
“He's believable when he says he did not mean to murder Sgt. Harnett.”
A date for Loparco's decision will be set Oct. 21.