A Chatham-Kent Ontario Provincial Police officer has been discovered not responsible within the 2021 capturing loss of life of a man from Six Nations of the Grand River close to Brantford.
Justice Bruce Thomas launched his choice in Superior Court docket on Tuesday, almost a month after Const. Sean O’Rourke’s judge-alone manslaughter trial had ended.
Thomas discovered O’Rourke had acted fairly in the early-morning hours of July 7, 2021, when he shot 24-year-old Nicholas Grieves following a Freeway 401 pursuit after Grieves was being sought within the theft of $40 value of fuel from a Dutton fuel station.
“Police motion shouldn’t be judged towards the usual of perfection … their motion ought to be judged towards the circumstances,” Thomas informed the courtroom, which was so crowded that some attendees had been sitting within the jury field.
Each O’Rourke and Tricia Grieves, Nicholas’s mom, had been in tears because the choose delivered his verdict.
Defence lawyer Sandip (Sandy) Khehra stated his shopper is relieved by the decision, including that O’Rourke is searching for privateness and a second to mirror.
“As His Honour stated, there may be nonetheless somebody that’s lifeless,” he stated. “And so it is nonetheless not likely a day of pleasure, however of aid for one individual.”
Khehra stated he was impressed with the choose’s choice and his understanding of the problems.
“We’re right here taking part in Monday morning quarterback on one thing that was seconds lengthy and tragic, there isn’t any denying, however on the similar time, I believe, , law enforcement officials have a job to do, so subsequent time you see a police officer driving by, thank them for his or her service.”
Legal professionals offered completely different variations of occasions
Within the seven-day trial that began final month, attorneys for the defence and the Crown offered competing variations of occasions.
Khehra argued Grieves’s automotive had rammed the officer’s throughout a Freeway 401 chase, spinning uncontrolled and stopping earlier than O’Rourke tripped and fell into the automotive, throughout which period his gun went off, capturing Grieves.
The automotive having rammed O’Rourke’s cruiser meant the incident was extra harmful and that O’Rourke was appropriate to drawn his weapon, Khehra stated.
Crown lawyer Jason Nicol argued that was all a fabrication — that O’Rourke had no cause to pursue a chase of Grieves’s automotive over a small theft, that his cruiser was not rammed with the drive described and that O’Rourke was a extremely skilled tactical officer whose gun was in excellent working situation.
It was by his carelessness, Nicol argued, that Grieves was shot, and it may solely have occurred as a result of O’Rourke pulled the set off.
A lot of the proof and testimony within the trial centred on the 87 seconds between when O’Rourke made the choice to activate his police automobile lights to cease the automotive carrying Grieves and two different individuals and the second Grieves was shot.
Grieves was a Six Nations member however had been staying in Windsor.
Case ‘displays complexities’ of policing, affiliation says
In a press release following the decision, the Ontario Provincial Police Affiliation stated “the lives of the household of the deceased, our law enforcement officials and our civilian members have been eternally impacted.”
“We respect the courtroom’s choice and consider it displays the complexities confronted by law enforcement officials in harmful and unpredictable conditions,” stated John Cerasuolo, the affiliation’s president. “Our officers are devoted to serving and defending the residents of Ontario, usually in circumstances past their management.
“This has been a very tough interval for all concerned, and we stay dedicated to supporting provincial Const. O’Rourke, together with all our members and their households, as they proceed to navigate the emotional aftermath of this occasion.”
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