Prosecutors drag feet
on whether to charge cop
in biker’s death

Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun, Nov. 18, 2009

 

B.C. prosecutors continue dithering five months after Delta police recommended they charge Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson, the most senior Mountie in the Dziekanski Tasering, with killing a motorcyclist a year later while driving drunk.

The criminal justice branch took more than a year to decide not to charge the four officers in the death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver Airport Oct. 14, 2007.

Now the branch is taking an inappropriately long time dealing with a horrific Oct. 25, 2008 Tsawwassen accident involving Robinson, the most experienced of the disgraced quartet.

The interminable chronology is a serious indictment of what should be an impartial process. It raises questions about the relationship between prosecutors and the officers they rely on daily in every criminal trial.

Think Stockholm syndrome.

In the high-profile Tsawwassen case, Delta police came under fire for dragging their feet after scheduled court dates were delayed and a decision on charges failed to materialize.

Finally, in June — eight months after the fatal collision at the intersection of Gilchrist Drive and Sixth Avenue — they submitted a report to prosecutors recommending Robinson be charged with impaired driving and dangerous driving causing death.

The crash occurred about 10:30 p.m. and Robinson gave breath samples at 11:56 p.m. and 12:16 a.m. that read .12 and .10. The legal limit is .08.

Neil MacKenzie, a spokesman for the criminal justice branch, said in June that the Crown’s review should be completed within a month.

The silence since has been deafening.

Following the crash, the motor vehicle branch suspended Robinson’s driver’s licence for 90 days and he tried unsuccessfully to appeal it.

The brazen Mountie lamely argued in B.C. Supreme Court that an adjudicator didn’t properly consider his excuse — that he left the debris-strewn scene of the collision, had two shots of vodka, and returned. That’s why he blew over the limit.

Orion Hutchinson, a 21-year-old recent graduate of BCIT looking forward to a new job, lay dying on the road and Robinson says he went home for quick drink?

Consider that Kurtis Rock, 18, was in the prisoner’s dock facing eight charges three days after the Feb. 7 hit-and-run that killed Dr. Aneez Mohammed and Chanelle Morgan near the entrance to Granville Island.

Three days compared to more than a year and counting; one case involving a common citizen, the other a Mountie. Gee, I wonder why people are losing faith in the legal system?

Although the criminal justice branch decided last Dec. 12 not to charge any of the Mounties in connection with Dziekanski’s death, testimony this year at the public inquiry into the incident raised serious questions about the integrity of the RCMP investigation and the veracity of the officers — including Robinson.

There have been calls for the attorney-general to reconsider laying criminal charges against them and the government of Poland is apparently mulling a prosecution.

Inquiry commissioner Thomas Braidwood is writing his final report on the 40-year-old Polish immigrant’s death and is expected to deliver it early next year.

But all of that has nothing to do with the death of Hutchinson.

More than a year after a none-too-complicated accident — almost six months after even the cops said their colleague should be put on trial — supposedly disinterested prosecutors have been unable to figure out whether to lay charges.

A criminal justice branch spokesman said Tuesday a decision will come soon.

Attorney-General Mike de Jong should be ashamed. Either his prosecutors are incompetent or so overworked they can’t get the important jobs done.

There is no reason charges could be laid against Rock but no decision made in Robinson’s case for this length of time.

It is a travesty for the family of a young man who died with everything before him and also for a besieged officer who deserves to be either exonerated or convicted and fired.

The RCMP suspended Robinson with pay following Hutchinson’s death.

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More news about RCMP Corporal
Benjamin Monty Montgomery Robinson’s
deadly career

Robinson remains on paid leave
while a decision on Orion Hutchinson’s death
keeps dragging on. More...
And on... More...
The charge is merely obstructing justice. Sounds like
Robinson is getting a really sweet deal. More...
The manner in which the criminal justice system
handles fatality cases involving police officers
is driven by anything but the principle
that we are all equal in the eyes of the law. More...
Robinson proves himself to be
one cunning, callous cop. More here and here.
What constitutes gross misconduct for the RCMP? More...
Incredible! The RCMP complaint commissioner
concedes what everybody else knows
about Benjamin Monty Montgomery Robinson
and the Dziekanski death squad. More...
Two and a half years after Orion Hutchinson’s death
Robinson finally faces a watered-down charge. More...
And three and a half years after Robert Dziekanski’s death,
another watered-down charge. More...
Robinson won’t go to trial on his watered-down Dziekanski charge
until April 2013. The other three cops have court dates spread out
between October 2012 and October 2013. Why so late?
Because justice delayed is justice denied. More...
Robinson has been off work with full pay since October 2007.
So far that’s a four-year, four-month paid vacation while he faces
two criminal charges resulting from two deaths. More...
Robinson finally gets convicted of something,
even if it’s a watered-down charge. He continues to draw
full pay, full benefits and yearly raises while doing absolutely nothing.
He might even stretch that out until retirement. More...
By continuing to pay Robinson, the RCMP flouts public outrage.
They should just fire the bastard. And now. More...
As for the other three members of the Dziekanski death squad,
they’ll never even be suspended. They’re not fit to carry weapons,
conduct investigations, testify in court or even deal with the public.
But they have safe jobs and guaranteed pensions thanks to the RCMP.
Monty Robinson just got a pay raise.
RCMP salary increases apply to all Mounties, even the
convicted criminals who spend years on paid vacation. More...
Robinson actually resigned. Has the two-time killer,
convicted criminal, disgraced police officer and tax-funded parasite
suddenly discovered principles? Or is he striving to stay out of prison?
Nevertheless, RCMP brass gave this sack of shit glowing references.
More...
Justice for Orion Hutchinson? Not even close.
“Be home by 9 now, Monty!” More...
“The various legal woes of Monty Robinson exposed
nearly everything that’s wrong with our ‘justice system.’” More…
Who’s the special prosecutor in this case? Richard Peck,
the cops’ unethical but well-paid go-to guy. More here and here.
Another criminal conviction for RCMP disgrace Benjamin Montgomery Monty Robinson,
this time for perjury. He’s always gotten away with radically reduced charges
for the deaths he’s caused. This time, like the last time, the full-pension criminal will likely
get an exceptionally lenient sentence, once again demonstrating that Canadian police
are held to much, much lower standards than normal people. More…
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