VANCOUVER — The RCMP officers involved in Robert Dziekanski’s death are appealing a court decision that allows a public inquiry to make findings of misconduct against them.
The four Mounties challenged Commissioner Thomas Braidwood’s authority to allege misconduct against officers on the federal police force — something the commissioner has warned he’ll consider when he writes his final report.
But a B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed their claims, and now the officers are taking the case to the B.C. Court of Appeal.
A lawyer for the officer who fired the Taser, Const. Kwesi Millington, has already filed his appeal and the others are expected to follow.
David Butcher, who represents Const. Bill Bentley, says the case raises important constitutional questions about such a provincial inquiry’s authority over federal police officers.
Prosecutors in B.C. decided last year not to charge the officers but Braidwood is considering a number of allegations made during the inquiry, including that they lied about what happened at the airport that day.
The inquiry is currently on hold until September as lawyers investigate an internal RCMP email that surfaced earlier this month that raised questions about the officers’ testimony.
