Niagara officers told to ‘TELL THE TRUTH’

Judge calls for honesty after constables fail to recall each other’s actions during arrest of drunk driver

In a court ruling comparing a group of police officers to the golden-era TV buffoon Sgt. Schultz — the “Hogan’s Heroes” prison guard with the catchphrase, “I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!” — an Ontario Court judge has made a remarkably direct call for honesty from officers acting as criminal witnesses.

“TELL THE TRUTH,” Justice Fergus O’Donnell wrote, addressing police in capital letters in a May 10 decision that details his frustration that a group of Niagara Regional Police officers seemed bafflingly unable to remember what each other was doing during an impaired driving arrest.

When an officer, or anyone else, takes the stand, their sole job is to be truthful, O’Donnell wrote — “Period. Full stop. End of. Unvarnished. Unselective. The truth, the whole truth (this phrase was underlined) and nothing but the truth. It really is that simple.”

O’Donnell had presided over a trial in which four Niagara officers testified about their interactions with the defendant after pulling him over for suspected impaired driving. Twice he attempted to flee, once in a car, the other on foot, and the four officers became involved in an arrest that turned physical.

The defence alleged excessive use of force during the late-night encounter in St. Catharines; during cross-examination, the officers “professed to have not a clue about what other officers were doing” despite being a few feet away from each other. Asked if another officer had struck the suspect, one officer testified he couldn’t say.

The idea that officers “kissing distance apart” have no idea what the other was doing, “simply beggars belief,” the judge wrote, nonetheless convicting the defendant of driving with excessive blood alcohol content and obstructing police.

The officers’ testimony amounted to Sgt. Schultz’s famous “I know nothing,” catchphrase, O’Donnell wrote, referencing the 1960s character’s trademark feigned ignorance.

“Coming from the mouth of the actor John Banner, those words came to be very amusing,” the judge wrote.

“Coming from the mouths of witnesses in a courtroom, not so much.”

It is not an officer’s job to “omit details, such as the actions of other officers, for example, in an effort to influence the outcome of a trial.”

O’Donnell wrote that he was nonetheless convinced by the evidence that the police had executed a lawful stop. The accused had fled, initially by car and subsequently on foot, challenged one of the officers to a fight, and was unresponsive to de-escalation attempts. The police were justified in using force to detain the suspect, who was actively resisting. Furthermore, the force was not excessive, given the circumstances.

Consequently, the judge rejected the defendant’s applications.

O’Donnell concluded he was convicting the man of the two offences despite his “significant misgivings” about the testimony provided by the officers.

“The public, who pay for the police, are entitled to expect better.”

In an email, Stephanie Sabourin, manager of corporate communications for Niagara Regional Police, said O’Donnell’s comments are “concerning, and we are in the process of reviewing the circumstances around the decision, to better inform the path forward for the Service.”

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The public, who pay for the police, are entitled to expect better. JUSTICE FERGUS O’DONNELL