By Canadian Press

N.S. jury views video of man dying in jail with spit hood over mouth

Oct 31, 2019 | 1:59 PM

HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia jury has viewed video of a dying man heaving in a barren Halifax jail cell, in a case where the Crown alleges two special constables failed to properly check on the prisoner.

Daniel Fraser and Cheryl Gardner are charged with criminal negligence causing death in the June 16, 2016 death of 41-year-old Corey Rogers.

The video shown to the jury captures a visibly intoxicated Rogers wearing a spit hood as he is dragged by officers into the police station and left in a narrow lockup cell at about 11 p.m. on June 15.

About a half hour after Rogers is placed in the cell, he is still wearing the impermeable restraint device as he begins retching.

The video indicates Rogers’ last movements in his cell occurred at 11:41 p.m. on June 15, yet Fraser is only seen entering the cell and attempting to rouse Rogers nearly two hours later. 

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A number of instances in the video show either Gardner or Fraser looking into the cell, and Gardner does say Rogers’ name during two of her stops.

However, the Crown argues those checks failed to meet the standard for a highly intoxicated inmate, where procedures expect the special constables to enter the cells and “shake them gently,” as one of a series of checks.

Keith Stothart, an investigator with the Serious Incident Response Team, Nova Scotia’s police watchdog, testified Wednesday that spit hoods come with instructions that say “improper use of the … hood can cause injury or death.”

The instructions say the hood shouldn’t be used if the person isn’t under “constant visual supervision,” or is vomiting or having difficulty breathing.

Stothart also testified that the intake form filled out by the booking officers indicated Rogers was “too intoxicated to answer.”

In his opening statement, prosecutor Chris Vanderhooft argued Rogers was an inmate with four times the legal driving limit of alcohol in his blood, and should have been medically checked before being admitted — and “appropriately” checked every 15 minutes while in his cell.

Charges of criminal negligence causing death were laid against the special constables by the Serious Incident Response Team in November 2017.

Special constables are civilians appointed to specialized duties, including the booking of prisoners.

Under the Criminal Code of Canada, criminal negligence is defined as completing or omitting any duty in a way that shows “wanton or reckless disregard” for the lives or safety of others.

Court heard that in the hours before his death, Rogers was arrested under the Liquor Control Act around 10:30 p.m. outside the IWK Health Centre, a children’s hospital in the city’s south end.

According to the Crown’s opening statement, Rogers was there because his wife Emilie Spindler had given birth to their child the day before.

Spindler testified Monday that Rogers had left the hospital on the afternoon of June 15 to cash a welfare cheque, and when he returned he was extremely impaired from drinking a bottle of Fireball whiskey.

She said he later argued with officers, who handcuffed him, placed him in a police vehicle and took him into the station.

This report by the Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2019.

Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press