November 16, 2004

Attorney General Halts Charges Against Vancouver Police Officer

VANCOUVER - Crown Prosecutors have stayed criminal charges of assault against a city police officer. The decision was made despite an earlier ruling by a Provincial Court Judge that there was sufficient evidence to proceed with the case.

"We're disappointed that the Attorney General has decided to end the proceeding," said Cristen Gleeson, a local lawyer who initiated the criminal proceedings against the officer. "Although the Crown has suggested that there were inconsistencies in the evidence, they have not told us what those might be. In my opinion the evidence was strong and pointed clearly to an unjustifiable assault."

The charges against Const. Wade Rodrigue stem from an incident that took place on April 28, 2004, in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. According to victim and witness statements, David Cunningham - an outspoken poverty activist who has been highly critical of police - was held with his arms pinned behind his back and thrown through a drug-store window after a verbal confrontation with the officer. Cunningham was taken away in an ambulance while police paid for repairs to the window, which was fixed within 30 minutes.

Cunningham complained to the police about the incident. However, three months after making his complaint, internal police investigators had failed to contact key witnesses. Cunningham approached Pivot Legal Society, who asked lawyer Cristen Gleeson to act as private prosecutor in the case. Acting in a pro bono capacity, Gleeson presented Cunningham's case to a Provincial Court Judge, who approved the charge against the Vancouver Police Constable on September 9, 2004. On October 25, Crown Counsel intervened in the prosecution and adjourned the matter to November 16 to allow time to review the file.

A problem emerged soon after the adjournment, however, when Crown Counsel turned the matter over to the Vancouver Police Department for re-investigation. Not trusting the VPD to investigate fairly, Cunningham and a key witness refused to be interviewed by internal investigators. The role of the VPD became a sticking point, with Crown Counsel rejecting proposals to interview the two directly or delegate the role to the RCMP.

"It basically came down to the same problem that the private prosecution was launched to avoid; that of Vancouver Police investigating their own," said John Richardson, executive director of Pivot Legal Society. "It's disappointing. We had hoped that Crown Counsel would understand people's concerns about the fairness and objectivity of such investigations."

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Further Comment:

Cristen Gleeson

(604) 433-5678

John Richardson

(604) 417-6074

====================

Vancouver Crown Council Serves and Protects Vancouver Police

By Dave Cunningham - Anti-Poverty Committee (APC)

The Crown has intervened and stayed the charges that (were) being pressed

by myself against an officer of the Vancouver Police Department. Constable

Wade Rodrique, a known thug within the Downtown East Side, has been given a `stay out of

jail for free' by Crown Counsel in a case where the VPD faced a series of

charges ranging from "obstruction of justice" to "aggravated assault."

Crown Counsel informed me that "The statements provided by others

including police members present are not consistent with the description

given by Mr. Cunningham (myself)." What is consistent is the role of Crown

Counsel to serve and protect the VPD.

A private prosecution was used as a strategy to by-pass the inherent bias

that is shared between Crown Counsel and the police. We succeeded in getting

a judge to approve six criminal charges against Rodrique. Up until that

point, Crown had not involved themselves, most likely they (were) not ready

to take on the PIVOT Legal Society as we had caught them with their guard

down. The Crown was finally sent in upon the orders of the Attorney

General to crush the case.

I am a member of the Anti-Poverty Committee and never believed that

justice would be found (through) our legal system. Our effort was meant to

take this cop off the street. He has since been relocated outside the

DTES.

The Anti-Poverty Committee is determined to continue with the legal

strategy of private prosecution. We see an opportunity to exploit the

legal system along this route. We do not believe there is any reason to

pursue police complaints. With PIVOT (PIVOT Legal Society, a community group focussing on legal support for drug users, the homeless and other marginalized persons) we played the game and lost. The APC

realizes (the) Crown and the entire court system are vulnerable to pressure. We

understand that as poor people our only power is disruption. We will make

sure that our power is felt in their courtrooms and on our streets.

To get involved with our anti-police brutality campaign please contact APC

or go to our web page: apc.resist.ca