Overturned Surrey Six convictions would damage RCMP: Heed
Posted October 29, 2014 12:48 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It would be a huge setback for the RCMP if allegations of police misconduct lead to overturned Surrey Six murder convictions according to former Solicitor General Kash Heed.
He calls it another blow to an already damaged reputation.
The Vancouver Sun is reporting Surrey Six defence lawyer Brock Martland wants his clients’ murder convictions overturned because of allegations two investigators had inappropriate relationships with witnesses.
It has to do with officers Derek Brassington and Dave Attew. Martland suggests Brassington and Attew hit on women while boasting about their work, had affairs with potential witnesses, and went to a weekend sex party during the investigation. And he’s claiming misconduct by IHIT investigators on the file was a pattern. He’s trying to convince the judge in the case to hold a hearing about the allegations.
Heed says given this is not the RCMP’s first very public problem, there’s a lot of work to be done to change its image.
“If in fact these allegations are proven, certainly it is going to be harmful to them, it’s going to be more pressure to deal with it in a very effective and efficient manner,” says Heed. “What we’re hearing is disturbing and it’s embarrassing to the RCMP and we have to remember the majority of police officers, 99.9 per cent of police officers [who] are out there serving the community each and every day, do not resort to this type of behaviour.”
An SFU criminologist agrees with Heed but doesn’t think that matters.
“The defense lawyer has already raised [this concern], he’s tried to secure a dismissal of charges against his client, I don’t think that will be successful. I think the court will probably pay the course with a conviction and not disrupt that,” explains Rob Gordon.
