Let’s hope the RCMP has gathered enough evidence to make the accused accomplices of James Roszko stick like superglue in court. Otherwise, someone might later second-guess the decision to parade grieving parents in front of the press in order to essentially declare the pair guilty without trial, accuse the news media of interfering with the police investigation, and randomly attack a commissioner who has held the job for about a week—all in the absence of any half-decent explanation as to how four highly-trained officers of what was once the world’s most legendary police force managed to lose a firefight against a middle-aged loner. (More at Full Comment.)
Comments (4)
What a bizarre turn of events. Maybe they are "shooting for mars" and hoping to "hit the moon" with these charges. Maybe get the two guys to plead guilty to lesser stuff? Like you say, there doesn't seem to be many ways these charges can stick. I'm not sure how they could possibly be found guilty of first degree murder unless they hypnotised Roszko, put a loaded gun in his hand, and told him to kill the next four people he saw and then himself.
On a somewhat related note, the Coroners inquest into the death of Ian Bush at the RCMP detachment in Houston, BC recently wrapped up. There are plenty of lingering questions about the investigation (or lack thereof) in that case as well. Yergh, what a shame.
Posted by Temujin | July 10, 2007 2:24 AM
Posted on July 10, 2007 02:24
The problem with the Ian Bush case will forever be that at the end of the day, it was two men alone, and one died.
In such circumstances, I think you pretty much have to accept the discretion of the police officer (and I think the most likely scenario is that a smartass drunk kid acted out without thinking through the consequences of grappling with an armed RCMP officer), though it certainly makes a strong case for things like CCTV in the police station.
But seriously, can you imagine any case in which the parents of poor Mr. Bush would say "well, yeah, I guess our son always did display some pretty poor judgment, and this time it bit him in the ass right good."
Conversely, I doubt the RCMP officer is going to say "yeah, you know, accidental discharge, shouldn't have happened, but hey, I'm new on the job!"
Posted by Ryan Cousineau | July 10, 2007 10:35 AM
Posted on July 10, 2007 10:35
though it certainly makes a strong case for things like CCTV in the police station.
I find it fascinating that anything ever happens in a police station today without being caught on a $20 webcam. Penny wise, million-pound-shithammer foolish.
Posted by Colby Cosh | July 10, 2007 11:14 AM
Posted on July 10, 2007 11:14
Except there was a video camera in that interrogation room - it just wasn't turned on. A lot of questions could have been avoided if a video record had been captured. I tend to side with the RCMP officer's account, but there are more than enough inconsistencies to give me pause. Hopefully the RCMP makes video recording of interrogations a standard practice now.
Posted by George Skinner | July 11, 2007 11:06 AM
Posted on July 11, 2007 11:06