Judge skeptical of perjury allegations at trial of Mountie in Dziekanski case

VANCOUVER – The judge hearing the case of a Mountie accused of lying at the public inquiry into Robert Dziekanski’s death is challenging the Crown’s assertion that four officers colluded to lie about what happened.

Const. Bill Bentley is charged with perjury for his testimony at the inquiry into what happened when Dziekanski was stunned by a police Taser at Vancouver’s airport.

The Crown alleges Bentley and the other officers collaborated to come up with their initial accounts of what happened, and then lied at the inquiry to cover up their collusion.

Crown counsel Scott Fenton is delivering his closing submissions at the trial, telling the judge that similar errors in all four Mounties’ notes and police statements prove the officers colluded.

But B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan suggests the Crown is exaggerating the similarities between the officers’ statements, noting their stories do vary, and he says several civilian witnesses made the same sorts of mistakes.

McEwan says Bentley’s explanation that he was confused about what happened in a traumatic situation that lasted all of 30 seconds is reasonable.