Obstruction charge stayed against Brandon police officer after judge finds charter rights were breached

An obstruction of justice charge against a Brandon police officer has been stayed after a Manitoba judge found a statement made by the officer during the investigation was inadmissible.

Crown attorney Tim Chudy entered a stay of proceedings Monday morning on a charge of obstructing justice against Const. ShaneStephenson, a 20-year member of the Brandon Police Service.

• Obstruction charges stayed against veteran Brandon police officer
• 2 senior Brandon officers charged with obstruction, put on paid leave

The obstruction chargestemmed from an assault investigation by Winnipeg police after a man alleged he was choked by Stephensonat a bar in November 2014, while Stephenson was investigating an assault.

The man, the son of another veteran Brandon police officer, alleged that Stephenson used excessive force while arresting him. The man later filed a Law Enforcement Review Agency (LERA) complaint against Stephenson.

The same man was a suspect in an assault that Stephenson had investigated in July 2014, said a written decision released Monday by Manitoba Judge Murray Thompson. The obstruction charge that was stayed Monday was related to the July 2014 case.

The Winnipeg Police Service professional standards unit investigated the LERA complaint starting in January 2015. During the investigation, they uncovered information about the July 2014 case, which they then also investigated. Stephenson was interviewed by Winnipeg police in May 2015 as part of the investigation.

Little investigation into July incident

The ruling says the court was toldthere was little investigation done and few notes taken by Stephensoninthe July 2014 case until after a meeting in December 2014 between Brandon police, the man and Stephenson, where the man said he wouldn't pursue criminal charges against Stephenson for the allegedassault. The LERA complaint was filed afterwards.

Thompson also found that Winnipeg police weren't given a clear scope or mandate when the force was asked to investigate and that officers didn't feel they had the authority to caution Stephenson with his charter rights before the July 2014 incident was brought up.

In his written decision, Thompson determined Stephenson's charter rights were breached because he wasn't informed that Winnipeg police also had started investigating the July 2014 case, not just the November 2014 assault.

"[The investigator] conducted a thorough investigation and did the best he felt he could in these circumstances, but his hands were figuratively tied going into the interview with Stephenson," Thompson wrote in the 24-page decision.

"This fatally compromised the admissibility of Stephenson's statement at his trial for obstruction of justice by failing to investigate the [July 2014] incident."

Thompson said Stephenson was never advised he was being investigated for obstructing justice, a more serious charge.

"The breach is serious," Thompson wrote. "It was a deliberate decision by [the professional standards unit]not to inform Stephenson of the jeopardy he faced."

Stephenson pleased

Stephenson's lawyer, Lisa LaBossiere, told CBC News her client is pleased with the decision.

"We were certainly of the view that the breach was obvious," she said.

"This has been a long road for him. I think that he's certainly relieved and wanting to move on with his life."

Sgt. DallasLockhart, a 20-year member of the Brandon Police Service,was charged at the same time as Stephenson with one count of attempting to obstruct justice and one count of obstructing a police officer in connection with the same incident in November 2014. His charges were stayed in November.

At the time, Winnipeg police said Lockhart was off duty when he allegedly"intervened into a matter involving two adult males that had been in the custody of other Brandon police officers."

Lockhartreturned to active duty last month. A Brandon police spokesperson said Monday that Stephenson will also return to active duty.