Canadian #34 Dies

October 31, 2013

Edmonton, The Canadian Press

via The Globe and Mail

An investigative unit says a 39-year-old man who was zapped by Edmonton police with an electronic stun gun has died in hospital.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, known as ASIRT, says an autopsy will be done on the man who died Wednesday night.

He was hospitalized in serious condition last week after an encounter with police.There have been few details about what happened.

ASIRT hasn’t said how many times the man was hit with a Taser, but media reports have quoted witnesses who said it was three times.

ASIRT reports to the Alberta Justice Department and investigates events involving serious injury or death that may have resulted from the actions of a police officer.

Taser use not "relevant factor" in tattoo artist's death

June 5, 2012

CBC

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2012/06/04/edmonton-fatality-inquiry-report-trevor-grimolfson.html

The use of a Taser stun gun on Edmonton tattoo artist Trevor Grimolfson was "not a relevant factor" in his death, according to a fatality inquiry report obtained by CBC News prior to its release later this month.

The two-page report into Grimolfsen's death on Oct. 29th, 2008 also contains no recommendations, which concerns his mother Beverly."All you can get are recommendations and you don't even get one to prevent a similar death? Not even one?" she asked. "That's what my son would want. He would not want anyone else to die like that."

Trevor Grimolfson, 38, died after police tried to subdue him outside his tattoo parlour at 153rd Street and Stony Plain Road. Officers were called after Grimolfson rampaged through a nearby pawnshop and assaulted the store owner.

Police used the Taser on him three times. Grimolfson lost consciousness after he was put in handcuffs and was pronounced dead by the time he arrived at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

In his report, fatality inquiry judge Frederick Day wrote that the last use of a Taser needs to be within 15 seconds of a loss of consciousness for it to be considered a factor in someone's death.

In Grimolfson's case, "a few minutes passed, not seconds, from the time of last Taser use to time of unconsciousness; therefore, the Taser use is not a relevant factor," the judge wrote.

The medical examiner found that Grimolfson died of "excited delirium" triggered by "multiple drug toxicity." He was found to have high levels of the street drugs ecstasy and ketamine in his blood.

Beverly Grimolfson plans to protest outside of future fatality inquiries with relatives of others who have died after Taser use.

During the inquiry, she recommended that researchers at the University of Alberta conduct studies on the effects of the device.

"Something has to be done to get proper testing going here and that's what I'm going to focus on," she said.

Inadequate reporting on the actions that lead to taser tragedies

Food for thought from a Concerned Canadian:

Up to 721 taser-related deaths?!  As sad as that is, there has been some positive progress in awareness and responsibility on the West Coast.  The Vancouver Police Department has fewer officers than ever signing up for Taser training. Perhaps they've read the long list of risks & warnings on the volunteer waiver?  It is anecdotal, but in Vancouver rank & file officers are rarely seen carrying them now. 

The Edmonton death will be interesting to watch.  The police there are already saying they believe the man  was on a "substance".  Yet he'd been in custody, awaiting a bail hearing. How was he able to imbibe, if he was in a supposedly secure jail?  By mentioning a 'substance" to the media, it is very much like Dziekanski and many other such deaths.  Villify the victim.

It is true no one - outside of the investigators and the involved officers - knows exactly what happened.  There were security cameras, so hopefully there will be some visual evidence. 

Also the Edmonton reporters have failed to ask CRUCIAL questions such as:

How many stuns?
Duration of stuns?
Number of weapons used?
What mode of use- drive stun or probe mode?
Where on the body were the shocks delivered?

Edmonton police don’t seem to be on top of recent rulings in the U-S courts, where the Taser is now considered a ‘deadly weapon’.  The manufacturer lost a significant product liability case (Turner in Charlotte, NC), where the jury found Taser International failed to warn about the risk of chest shots for nearly fours years, after health risks were discovered by their own scientists.  This is a far cry from what the company crowed about in the beginning, when its senior managers said Tasers are “safe to use on any assailant.”   Police have got to ask themselves whether they want to risk using a potentially lethal weapon as a compliance tool. 

This is made all the worse because no one in law enforcement anywhere is measuring Tasers for ‘output variance’, yet the few tests that have been done have revealed that not all Tasers perform the same way.  Despite what the company claimed early on, the current being emitted from Tasers is NOT uniform.  This poses risks to both the public and the police. 

Even more concerning, there is still no independent standard of measurment developed for Conducted Energy Weapons; the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) AND the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) are collaborating to create a scientifically valid test protocol.  As it stands now-- and it is difficult to fathom --  there is still NO electrical safety standard developed to measure invasive shocks. 

Concerned Canadian

Edmonton man dies

April 13, 2012
Calgary Herald

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Tasered+police+dies+Edmonton+hospital/6459321/story.html

A man who was struck with a Taser while in Edmonton police custody earlier this week died in hospital Friday, his mother says.

Simone Oatway told Global News on Friday that her son, Jeff, had serious mental health problems for most of his life, and struggled with drug and alcohol addiction.

The 34-year-old was struck with a Taser at least once in the basement of the downtown police station on Wednesday afternoon.

According to Edmonton Police Association president Tony Simioni, Oatway was being transferred from his cell to a holding area to await a bail hearing at the time.

He had been in the custody of one female police officer and two civilian safety officers when he became violent, Simioni said.

"It was sudden, unexpected and violent as hell," said Simioni. "In a pre-Taser world, in that kind of serious circumstance, when a person is that out of control and there is that much apparent strength, the first option would have been your gun."

Simioni said at least 12 police officers tried to restrain Oatway.

The Taser, he said, didn't seem to have much initial impact on the man.

"The medical episode took place after the Taser was deployed. When the Taser was deployed, it had no effect, none. The Taser did not get this person under control. It was not effective. He fought on."
An ambulance was called and officers made efforts to resuscitate Oatway.

Edmonton police spokeswoman Clair Seyler said no new information is being released about the incident, which now has been handed over to Alberta's Serious Incident Response Team for investigation.

Simioni has described the incident as "a massive struggle" that left a path of destruction through the area.

Speaking to Global News, Simone Oatway said her son's life was troubled and he had bounced between jail and the streets.

"I know he probably was very violent and was out of his mind, but couldn't there have been another way without Tasering him?" she said.

Man in coma after tasering at Edmonton police headquarters: media report

April 12, 2012
Globe and Mail

An Edmonton radio station is reporting that a man is in a coma and on life support after he was hit with a charge from a Taser gun during a struggle with police.

The station (CHED) says the man was being held at the downtown police headquarters awaiting a bail hearing Wednesday when he reportedly jumped a counter in the prisoner processing area.

He fought with a peace officer and an Edmonton police member before more than a dozen police officers responded to a panic alarm.

The report says the man, who is in his 30s, stopped breathing and had no detectable heartbeat after the electronic stun gun was used on him when he could not be subdued.

Officers worked to resuscitate the prisoner until emergency medical personnel arrived.

Homicide detectives are investigating and the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has been notified.

Edmonton officer wants disciplinary charges stayed - Wasylyshen’s lawyer argues alleged Taser incident nine years old

August 12, 2011
Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - There is another delay in the disciplinary hearing of an Edmonton police officer charged with unnecessary force in a 2002 Taser incident.

Const. Mike Wasylyshen was charged in the Oct. 5, 2002, incident during which teenager Randy Fryingpan was allegedly Tasered eight times in 68 seconds.

Wasylyshen also faces a charge for hitting Fryingpan in the head and three insubordination charges for alleged violations of police procedure.

Wasylyshen’s lawyer, Robert Hladun, was scheduled to deliver his closing arguments on Friday. That was put off until November after Hladun filed a judicial review in the Court of Queen’s Bench.

He hopes the court will give the hearing’s presiding officer, Supt. Paul Manuel of the Calgary Police Service, the authority to throw out the disciplinary charges because the incident took place nine years ago.

If the application succeeds, the authority to stay the charges would be in Manuel’s hands.

“Right now, my client just wants to take advantage of the law everyone else can take advantage of,” Hladun said after the hearing.

In previous testimony, Fryingpan said he still has nightmares and takes painkillers because of injuries sustained by eight Taser strikes. He said he had several drinks that night at a friend’s birthday party, after which he and three companions climbed into a parked Oldsmobile “to smoke a joint” at about midnight or 1 a.m.

Wasylyshen was one of five officers who responded to complaints of an attempted car theft. The Taser was used during Fryingpan’s arrest.

After the 2002 incident, Wasylyshen’s father, then-police chief Bob Wasylyshen, decided no internal disciplinary action would be taken against any of the officers present during the arrest. But in 2009, the Law Enforcement Review Board ordered police Chief Mike Boyd to lay several charges against Wasylyshen.

Wasylyshen was not present at Friday’s hearing, which is scheduled to resume Nov. 29.

Cop sues CBC over Tasered teen story

May 13, 2011
Tony Blais, QMI Agency - Edmonton Sun

EDMONTON - Edmonton police officer Mike Wasylyshen has filed a $100,000 defamation lawsuit against the CBC regarding a TV broadcast about him repeatedly Tasering a city teen.

According to a statement of claim filed in Court of Queen¹s Bench on April 28, Wasylyshen alleges the 2009 broadcast falsely stated he admitted to committing a number of violent and potentially criminal acts.

In particular, Wasylyshen claims the story stated he is a cop with a record for assault who is "admitting to once again crossing the line," which he says implies he has admitted to having committed an assault or other crime.

The 12-year veteran also alleges the April 29, 2009 item on the 6 p.m. TV news stated he had admitted to both having "repeatedly Tasered a passed out teenager then beat him" and having hit the teen so hard on the back of the head with the butt of the Taser that he "snapped off a tooth when he landed face first on the ground."

According to the statement of claim, the broadcast, when taken as a whole, is defamatory because it falsely states Wasylyshen has admitted to having used unreasonable and excessive force towards a defenseless teenager when carrying out his duties as a police officer.

A statement of defence has not yet been filed. Statements of claim and statements of defence contain allegations which have not been proven in court.

Wasylyshen is currently before a police disciplinary hearing regarding the 2002 Tasering incident on internal charges of unlawful or unnecessary exercise of authority and insubordination, and is awaiting a decision.

According to agreed facts, Wasylyshen and four other officers were dispatched to a complaint of a group trying to steal a parked car on Oct. 5, 2002, near Abbottsfield Road.

The cops ordered the people out of the car and three of four people inside exited, but Randy Fryingpan, then 16, was passed out in the back seat from drinking and did not respond to the order to get out of the car.

Wasylyshen then deployed his Taser on Fryingpan eight times in 68 seconds "in what appeared to be an effort to remove the passed-out youth from the vehicle," according to the Law Enforcement Review Board decision.

At the disciplinary hearing, Wasylyshen testified he Tasered Fryingpan six times, not eight, and maintained it was an appropriate use of force.

Wasylyshen, 35, was fined $500 and given a criminal record on April 16, 2009 for a Dec, 18, 2005 off-duty incident on Whyte Avenue where he drunkenly punched a man on crutches he called a "cripple," and threatened to burn down the home of a security guard who helped him.

Constable's story evolved, lawyer says

February 12, 2011
Jana G. Pruden, Edmonton Journal

An Edmonton lawyer says a police officer's original notes -- not his subsequent testimony at a disciplinary hearing -- tell the real story of a 2002 arrest during which a teenager was repeatedly Tasered.

Const. Mike Wasylyshen, the son of former police chief Bob Wasylyshen, discharged his Taser eight times in the course of about a minute while arresting 16-year-old Randy Fryingpan.

Wasylyshen is charged with using inappropriate force during the arrest, and for allegedly hitting Frying pan in the head, causing him to lose a tooth. Wasylyshen also faces insubordination charges for violating police procedure, in part by allegedly having an unauthorized civilian with him on a ride along at the time.

The case was the subject of a police disciplinary hearing this fall, and the proceedings resumed on Friday for closing arguments from the prosecution.

Presenting officer Derek Cranna told the hearing he believes there is enough evidence to find Wasylyshen guilty on all of the disciplinary charges.

Wasylyshen's lawyer, Robert Hladun, will present his closing arguments when the hearing reconvenes next month.

The arrest happened on Oct. 5, 2002, as Fryingpan was sitting in a parked car on Abbottsfield Road with friends.

Wasylyshen responded to the scene to investigate whether the car was stolen. He got into a confrontation with Fryingpan when the drunken teen refused to get out of the car.

Testifying at the disciplinary hearing in November, Wasylyshen said he Tasered Fryingpan six times, not eight, because he contacted himself with one of the Taser strikes and another was unaccounted for. He said the Taser deployed for a complete five-second cycle only once.

Wasylyshen maintained the response was an appropriate use of force, which was in keeping with police procedure at the time.

But Cranna said that Wasylyshen's account of the event has changed through the years, and that details have changed to justify his actions.

Cranna said Wasylyshen's original notes describe only that Fryingpan pushed the officer's hands away, but in subsequent reports and proceedings Wasylyshen described being "violently pushed," or "batted away," and being hit in the arm with a closed fist.

"You can see the evolution of this over time," Cranna said, adding Wasylyshen provided details that would justify his actions.

He said Wasylyshen wasn't concerned enough about the dangers of the situation to wait for other officers, despite knowing that they would be arriving at the scene within moments.

Cranna said with eight Taser discharges in 68 seconds, Fryingpan wouldn't have had enough time to comply.

"The circumstances do not point to appropriate use of force," Cranna said. "They do not."

After the incident, then-chief Bob Wasylyshen decided no disciplinary action should be taken against any of the officers involved, but the Law Enforcement Review Board later ordered that charges be laid.

Mother overcome by autopsy pictures

November 25, 2010
Andrea Sands, Edmonton Journal

Beverly Grimolfson began sobbing then gasping for air during a fatality inquiry after she saw autopsy pictures of her son, who died two years ago after he was repeatedly Tasered by police.

Two security officers were called in as a precaution when Grimolfson became increasingly agitated while looking through binders of inquiry material during the lunch break Thursday afternoon.

"I have to try to calm down," she said, sobbing, after seeing autopsy photos of Trevor Grimolfson, who died after violent struggle with police.

"I've just never looked at these before."

She was led out of the room in Provincial Court, where she could still be heard yelling and sobbing outside as two court security officers came in.

She returned to her seat at the front of the courtroom, where she continued crying.

"I want to ask the judge how he thought I could come here and do this ... Why didn't he let me have a lawyer? A lawyer could have helped me. That's my kid in there. I never got to see him. I don't understand the cruelty of it all."

Hands shaking violently, gasping for breath, Grimolfson was given a plastic bag to breath into, and court officials urged her to calm down before she was led out of the courtroom a second time.

Grimolfson has been representing herself during the fatality inquiry that began Monday.

Family members of those who have died are allowed to speak and ask questions at an inquiry, but provincial legislation does not provide funding for their legal representation. Beverly Grimolfson was unsuccessful in her request for funding to hire a lawyer.

Inquiry counsel Glenn Epp asked that the inquiry be adjourned until Friday morning to give Grimolfson time to recover.

She told Judge Fred Day she is convinced police used excessive force on her son.

"My son is dead and I have the right to get to the bottom of this," he said. "I truly believe that excessive force was used here."

Det. Lee Scott painted a different picture in his testimony Thursday morning.

Trevor Grimolfson struggled violently against police and seemed oblivious to repeated jolts from their Tasers, said Scott, who was a constable at the time he fought with Grimolfson during the man's drug-fuelled rampage through a pawnshop.

The inquest heard testimony this week from Alberta's chief medical examiner that Grimolfson, 38, died of excited delirium caused by high levels of the drugs ecstasy and ketamine, an animal tranquillizer. The levels of each drug in Grimolfson's body were high enough to have been fatal, Dr. Graeme Dowling said.

Scott told the fatality inquiry Thursday he thought his Taser wasn't working when he fired the device at Grimolfson on Oct. 29, 2008, while trying to subdue him in the pawnshop on Stony Plain Road.

Scott said when he entered the pawnshop the smell of bear spray hung in the air.

He said Grimolfson's skin was yellow and he was sweating profusely and flailing his arms. Scott said he fired the Taser repeatedly at Grimolfson, who was heading toward another officer at the end of a long glass counter.

"I could hear it (working), absolutely, but it wasn't doing what it was supposed to do ... He should have been on the ground. He should have been incapacitated, but he wasn't," Scott said.

"I knew I wasn't going to let him leave the pawnshop. I knew there were people outside. I knew he was going to try to kill someone. I knew he was going to try to kill Matt (the other police constable)."

Grimolfson didn't react to the Taser and didn't obey police orders to get down on the floor, said Scott.

Police wrestled Grimolfson to the floor on his stomach, where he continued to twist and fight as Scott handcuffed him.

Scott Tasered Grimolfson again. "I did that on top of his back and he didn't even flinch."

Grimolfson was spitting and chanting "OK, OK" as Scott told him to stop fighting. He didn't seem to tire despite the intense struggle, Scott said.

"He was not calming down," Scott said.

"I'd never seen anything like this before.

Police immediately called emergency medical crews and superior officers, as is policy when a Taser is deployed, Scott said.

Roughly five minutes after police got the handcuffs on him, Grimolfson lost consciousness and stopped breathing, he said.

Scott started CPR but was later told Grimolfson had died.

Taser had no effect, fatality inquiry told

November 25, 2010
CBC News

The Edmonton police officer who deployed a Taser on Trevor Grimolfson moments before he died told a fatality inquiry Thursday that the stun gun appeared to have no effect.

"We're not using this anymore," Det. Lee Scott said he told his police colleagues during the daytime altercation with Grimolfson in a west Edmonton pawn shop two years ago. "It's not working."

Grimolfson, 38, died on Oct. 29, 2008, not long after police stunned him three times with the Taser. A fatality inquiry looking into Grimolfson's death is underway this week in Edmonton.

Scott, then an Edmonton police constable, testified he first met Grimolfson earlier that day when he responded to a call about a fight. Grimolfson seemed rational when Scott spoke to him in a back alley. He was released without charges.

About 40 minutes later, Scott raced to a call at a pawn shop in the same area. When he arrived, he heard yelling and the sound of glass breaking. A man Scott believed was the son of the pawn shop owner ran up to the police cruiser.

"He's going to kill my dad," he reportedly told Scott. "You've got to do something,"

When Scott entered the shop, he saw the man he had seen earlier in the alley — Grimolfson — covered in sweat and wildly flailing his hands around.

Grimolfson was standing on the other side of the counter and started walking toward police, Scott said.

Grimolfson refused to heed police instructions to get down on the ground.

Scott said he used his Taser once, but with no effect. Another officer deployed his Taser, but again, Grimolfson was not subdued.

'He could feel nothing'
Scott told the inquiry he struck Grimolfson twice in the jaw. Scott deployed a stun gun on Grimolfson a third time.

"Nothing was working," Scott said. "He could feel nothing."

Grimolfson was frothing, spitting and continued to fight. "Still chanting. Just not normal," Scott said.

Police were able to handcuff Grimolfson and put a spit mask on him, but then Grimolfson stopped struggling and ceased breathing.

Scott took off the handcuffs and Grimolfson's tongue flopped out as he removed the spit mask.

Scott could only detect a faint pulse and started doing chest compressions. Paramedics rushed Grimolfson to hospital where he was declared dead.

The medical examiner later ruled the cause of death as "excited delirium due to the consequences of multiple drug toxicity." Ketamine, ecstasy and cocaine were found in Grimolfson's blood.

Earlier this week, a man told the inquiry that when he arrived to do demolition work at Grimolfson's tattoo parlour, he was attacked.

Minutes later, Grimolfson went into the pawn shop. The owner told the inquiry Tuesday that Grimolfson broke a window on the front door of his store and threw a glass of water that hit him in the head.

Two pictures of Trevor Grimolfson emerge at inquiry

November 24, 2010
Alexandra Zabjek, Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON — Two portraits of Trevor Grimolfson emerged during a fatality inquiry into his death in provincial court on Tuesday.

A close friend described Grimolfson as a generous and popular man, who loved his children fiercely and was never violent.

A worker who encountered Grimolfson on the day he was Tasered several times by police said he met an agitated man who appeared high on drugs and couldn’t be reasoned with.

Melinda Parasynchuk told the fatality inquiry she had known Grimolfson for nine years. They had once dated and remained close friends at the time of the Oct. 29, 2008, incident, when Grimolfson was Tasered by police in a pawnshop on Stony Plain Road.

“He was very giving, he was like a year-round Santa Claus,” Parasynchuk said, noting Grimolfson especially liked to spoil children at Christmas.

She said Grimolfson’s own children were “his everything.”

Grimolfson, 38, was a talented tattoo artist and a well-known wrestling commentator who was “very, very funny,” said Parasynchuk, who broke down in tears at several points in her testimony.

“Trevor was someone easy to reason with, easy to talk to. I can’t imagine Trevor being violent.”

But Patrick Saunders told the fatality inquiry Grimolfson assaulted him in his tattoo shop that day, leaving him with a fractured cheek bone, three broken teeth, and bruises on his body.

Saunders said he had met Grimolfson the day before the incident, when Grimolfson offered him demolition work at his tattoo shop on Stony Plain Road. Grimolfson seemed like a normal, trustworthy person, he testified.

When Saunders arrived the next morning, he said Grimolfson was sweating profusely, jumping around, and that he uttered the nonsensical phrase, “Bruce Lee’s revenge, bullets are flying.”

When Saunders tried to leave the shop, he said Grimolfson struck him. Saunders fought back, but was hit repeatedly before he was able to leave.

He said he saw Grimolfson approach a group on Stony Plain Road before he entered a nearby pawnshop, breaking a glass door.

When the pawnshop owner and his father asked Grimolfson to leave, Saunders said the man appeared, “lost, dazed, and confused.”

He said Grimolfson threw a cup at the older man’s head and the situation worsened from there.

“You could have said a million things to calm him down, it wouldn’t have worked,” he said.

Saunders told the inquiry Grimolfson was in a “rage” when police arrived and that he charged at one of the officers.

At one point, when questioned by Beverly Grimolfson, who is acting as her own lawyer at her son’s fatality inquiry, Saunders said: “I’m really sorry for what happened with Trevor that day.”

A medical examiner has testified Grimolfson’s death was caused by excited delirium, brought on by multiple drug toxicity. Fatal levels of ecstasy and ketamine were found in his body after his death.

Beverly Grimolfson has said she believes her son would still be alive if police hadn’t deployed a Taser.

The inquiry continues.

Two moms whose sons died after being Tasered by police lobby against stun guns

November 22, 2010
John Cotter, The Canadian Press

EDMONTON - The mothers of two men who died after being Tasered by police say they are forming a national group that will work to ban the use of electronic stun guns.

Zofia Cisowski, mother of Robert Dziekanski, made the pledge Monday outside a fatality inquiry into the death of an Edmonton man who was zapped with police Tasers a year after her own son died in Vancouver at the hands of RCMP.

Cisowski said it was painful to sit beside Bev Grimolfson at the inquiry as she asked questions about her son Trevor's death.

"I just want to support Bev because my son was Tasered at Vancouver International Airport," Cisowski said as she stood beside Grimolfson outside court.

"I am very frustrated because it reminded me of my son's death, struggling on the floor with his life."

Grimolfson said she is grateful for Cisowski's help. Together, they say they hope to make police more accountable in such deaths.

"I feel that there are a lot of questions that need to be asked," Grimolfson said.

"I was not allowed any funding for a lawyer so I had to come and stick up for my son by myself. I intend to get to the bottom of this."

Trevor Grimolfson, 38, died after Edmonton police shot him with a Taser several times on Oct. 29, 2008. A government investigation determined that Grimolfson was so violently out of control as he smashed up a pawn shop that officers were justified in firing at least three Taser darts into him, jolting his chest with numbing electric shocks.

When he finally fell to the ground, police handcuffed him and placed a spit mask over his face. Another officer also zapped him in the neck with a hand-held Taser.

After a few minutes, Grimolfson lapsed into unconsciousness until paramedics arrived. The former resident of Selkirk, Man., was pronounced dead soon after arrival in hospital.

The medical examiner said Grimolfson suffered from a heart condition and was extremely high on potentially lethal doses of ketamine and ecstasy. Cause of death was listed as excited delirium, a controversial term that has been linked to people who have died after being zapped by stun guns.

Last year, Alberta government investigators announced that no police officers would face criminal charges in Grimolfson's death.

Dr. Graeme Dowling, Alberta's chief medical examiner, reiterated his findings Monday as he testified at the inquiry.

When it was Grimolfson's turn to ask questions, she barraged Dowling: "Was he was aware that torturers use electrical devices in dictatorships? Did he know that Tasers have been used to subdue women and children in other countries?"

Judge Fred Day ruled that some of her questions were beyond the scope of the inquiry, which cannot find blame but works to glean information to prevent future deaths.

But he gave her latitude as she questioned Dowling on the public health risks associated with police use of Tasers.

"I found no evidence in this case that it was the cause of death," he replied. "I see no evidence of that."

More than 25 people have died in Canada after being stunned by Tasers.

The U.S. company that makes the devices points out that they have never directly been proven to have caused a death in Canada.

Cisowski said she will continue attending the fatality inquiry this week to give moral support to Grimolfson. She knows firsthand that such fact-finding takes time. She is still waiting for British Columbia to decide whether the four Mounties involved in the death of her son will be charged.

"We will work together to make something better for mothers like Bev and me and other mothers," she said.

Mother represents son at Taser inquiry

November 22, 2010
CBC News

A mother is pressing for answers in the death of her son after Edmonton police used a stun gun while arresting him in 2008 during a drug-fuelled rampage.

The five-day inquiry into the death of Trevor Grimolfson begins in an Edmonton courtroom on Monday.

"This is the only chance I have to get some sort of justice," said Bev Grimolfson, 58.

Grimolfson is representing herself, because she can't afford a lawyer and a provincial court judge turned down her application for funding.

She said that without legal representation, it will be hard to ask the right questions.

"I don't know courtroom etiquette. I don't speak legalese, but I will do my best."

Her son, 38, died on Oct. 29, 2008, after police tried to subdue him with a stun gun.

He was high on drugs, smashing his way through a pawnshop in the west end. He died later in hospital. The cause of death was ruled “excited delirium due to the consequences of multiple drug toxicity.”

Grimolfson’s mother will be joined in the courtroom by the mother of Robert Dziekanski, whose son died after being shocked numerous times by police in the Vancouver airport.

“We are grieving mothers,” Zofia Cisowski wrote in a statement Sunday. “Many good people supported me. I am here to support her.”

Grimolfson said police misled her about the investigation into her son’s death.

“They have never told me anything,” she said. “I feel that I have been lied to right from the beginning; lied about what kind of Tasers they were; lied about how many times he was Tasered; where he was Tasered.

“It's just been a nightmare. And now this is the only chance I have to get some sort of justice.”

Alberta Justice won't comment on a pending inquiry, but a spokesperson said the process is designed to ensure an objective hearing.

Last year, the Alberta Serious Incident Repsonse Team, which investigates any death involving police, cleared the officers of any wrongdoing during Grimolfson's arrest.

The judge may make recommendations on how to prevent similar deaths.

Mothers united by Tasers & death

November 22, 2010
iNews 880

The mother of a city man, who died after he was Tasered by Edmonton police two years ago, will be joined at his fatality inquiry this week by the mother of the man Tasered at Vancouver International Airport.

Zofia Cisowski says she'll be at the inquiry into the death of Trevor Grimolfson to support his mother, Bev, because: "We are grieving mothers. Many good people supported me. I am here to support her."

Cisowski slams the refusal to provide legal aid to Grimolfson' mother and adds "because I had a lawyer, I was able to fight for the truth and get some justice for my son Robert (Dziekanski)." She goes on to say: "The police tried to blame my son for his death. They were wrong. We cannot put blind trust in the authorities."

Trevor Grimolfson died after he was Tasered by police during a drug-fueled rampage at a pawn shop on Stony Plain Road in late October, 2008. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has ruled officers were justified in their actions.

The fatality inquiry is automatic because Grimolfson died in police custody.

Dziekanski's mother to attend another Taser death inquiry

November 22, 2010
NEWS 1130

EDMONTON (NEWS1130) - The mother of Robert Dziekanski is becoming an advocate for other mothers who've also lost their sons in police Tasering incidents.

Zofia Cisowski is in Edmonton to show her support for Bev Grimolfson, whose son died two years ago. An inquiry into the death of her son Trevor begins in Alberta Provincial Court tomorrow. Grimolfson was Tasered at an Edmonton pawn shop, then went into medical distress and died shortly afterward.

Unlike Cisowski, Bev will have to question witnesses herself, because she can't afford a lawyer.

Zygmunt Riddle with the Canadian Civil Rights Movement says the prospects of getting to the bottom of what happened to her son are bleak. "On one hand you have government lawyers, you have Taser company lawyers, and on another you have just motherly grief without lawyers. So I don't think we'll learn much about the truth [of] what happened."

He says it was important for Cisowski to be at Grimolfson's side. "That is what Zofia was always promising that after her case is closed one way or another, she would support other mothers."

Riddle adds Cisowski vowed to support other mothers of Tasering victims after her own inquiry was concluded earlier this year.

Mom seeks answers in Edmonton Taser death

November 21, 2010
Alexandra Zabjek, Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON — The mother of a man who died after being Tasered by city police two years ago is worried that she won’t get any answers at a fatality inquiry into the incident because she can’t afford a lawyer to represent her.

Beverly Grimolfson, who is raising her son Trevor’s three children in Dauphin, Man., plans to attend the inquiry which is scheduled to begin Monday in Edmonton. Without a lawyer to speak on her behalf, she is determined to question witnesses herself.

It won’t be an easy process.

“There are far too many questions for me to have answered, for me not to have a lawyer there,” she said. “I feel the victim’s family should have representation in order for it to be a fair inquiry.”

Trevor Grimolfson died on Oct. 29, 2008, after a drug-fuelled rampage through a west-end pawnshop.

Police were called and confronted him in the shop, a 10-minute ordeal in which he was Tasered several times. After he was arrested, he went into medical distress and was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

His cause of death was listed as “excited delirium due to the consequences of multiple drug toxicity.”

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, which investigates any death that may have been caused by a police officer, last year ruled officers were justified in their actions. No criminal charges were laid.

However, a fatality inquiry was automatically called since Trevor Grimolfson died while in police custody. The inquiry is scheduled for five days, and the presiding judge must report on the circumstances, causes, and manner of the death. The judge may present recommendations on how to prevent similar deaths in the future.

A fatality inquiry is not a trial and the judge cannot assign blame for an incident. Family members of those who have died are automatically granted standing to speak and ask questions at an inquiry, but provincial legislation does not provide for their legal funding.

Beverly Grimolfson said she was denied Legal Aid in her home province of Manitoba, as well as in Alberta. She applied to Provincial Court Judge F.A. Day, who is presiding over the inquiry, to recommend she receive funding, but he declined to do so.

Day ruled there was no legal authority to mandate funding. He noted that if financial need was a sufficient basis to recommend public funding, then provincial legislation or Legal Aid would have made provisions for that.

Alberta Justice says it is not common for families to bring lawyers to a fatality inquiry.

Julie Siddons, a spokeswoman for the department, said next of kin can speak at an inquiry and bring lawyers if they want.

“It’s a factual inquiry, it’s not a trial, so legal representation is not required,” she said.

Grimolfson’s inquiry comes in the wake of the high-profile and lengthy Braidwood Inquiry in B.C, which examined the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski who died at the Vancouver International Airport in 2007 after he was Tasered multiple times by Mounties. Video of the incident was viewed widely and prompted debate about the use of Tasers by police in Canada.

In his lengthy report released in 2009, former judge Thomas Braidwood said police should continue to use Tasers but warned it is not “helpful” to blame deaths on “excited delirium,” since it avoids having to “examine the underlying medical condition or conditions that actually caused death, let alone examining whether use of the conducted energy weapon and/or subsequent measures to physically restrain the subject contributed to those causes of death.”

Alberta Justice says it expects Dr. Graeme Dowling, Alberta’s chief medical examiner, will discuss the relevance of Braidwood’s findings at the Grimolfson’s inquiry.

When writing in 2009, Braidwood found 25 people had died in Canada since 2003 after a conducted energy weapon was deployed against them.

Beverly Grimolfson said she knows her son was in bad shape when he encountered police two years ago, but insists he was not “a monster.” She said he was a loving father and a generous person.

She thinks it is important the circumstances of her son’s death are investigated completely. She thinks that can’t be done without investigating the use of Tasers by police forces in general.

“We can’t forget any one of (those deaths). Just because there is no video of the other 25, their cases are no less important.”

Detective takes the stand at Wasylyshen's disciplinary hearing

November 9, 2010
CTV

An Edmonton police detective took the stand Tuesday at Constable Mike Wasylyshen's disciplinary hearing. The veteran officer is accused of repeatedly Tasering a teenager back in 2002.

Detective Alfred Normand described what he remembers happening on the night in question, back in October of 2002. He was working with Wasylyshen that evening and says they were called to the Beverly area on a report of a auto theft.

He described the call as routine. And after eight years, he says he remembers one thing about that night.

"Trying to help each other. We're partners and I couldn't get there to assist my partner at that time. There's a feeling inside that I need to be there and I couldn't.


It was just a day ago that Wasylyshen took the stand to recount the chain of events that led up to the multiple Tasering of a then 16-year-old boy.

A now 25-year-old Randy Fryingpan says he was the victim of excessive force and abuse at the hands of Wasylyshen.

Wasylyshen told the hearing he was called to the Abbotsfield Road area at around 3 a.m. He was responding to reports of a possible car theft in progress.

He told the hearing that when he encountered Fryingpan at the scene, the teenager was belligerent and violent.

"He's coming out but he's coming out angry," testified Wasylyshen. "I know the difference between the cooperative face and the I wanna fight face... I thought he's going to assault me."

Wasylyshen said he feared for his safety and was justified in his use of force.

An agreed statement of facts showed a Taser was deployed eight times in 68 seconds. Wasylyshen said Fryingpan was hit six times by the Taser.

Fryingpan allegedly suffered a head injury, a broken tooth and burns from the Taser. Earlier in the hearing, he testified he felt humiliated and said he couldn't remember much because he was intoxicated.

"Next thing I remembered is being handcuffed and spitting out my tooth and it was bloody," Fryingpan told the hearing.

In his conclusion, the presenting officer Derek Cranna suggested Wasylyshen used the Taser on Fryingpan to wake him up.

"I don't like your suggestion. It's wrong," said Wasylyshen, denying that's what happened.

Wasylyshen appeared heated and frustrated several times on the stand. At one point, he was told to show some decorum.

I repeat - Justice must be SEEN to be done, to be done

A message I received from the mother of Trevor Grimolfson:

I sent you a copy of the media release issued by the Canadian Civil Rights Movement by Zygmut Riddle. As you probably guessed my application for funding was denied for what reason I don't know. It took me awhile to figure it out but my humble opinion is that once the lawyers for the police found out who I had found to take Trevors case, they contacted Taser International, who then requested to be a part of the inquiry. They already knew who Mr. Sundhu is and that he assisted on Robert Dziekanzki's case. In my opinion they didn't want someone of Mr. Sundhu's experience in the courtroom. They would have had quite the battle on their hands as he is an excellent lawyer and humanitarian. Had I asked for funding for a lawyer fresh out of school with no experiences with police officers or Taser International I think I may have received funding.

I have decided to go on to the inquiry and to act as my own lawyer, if this is what Judge Day wants this is what he will get. I do not speak "legalease" and feel I should have an interpreter as it is a foreign language to me. I do not have a clue about how to handle myself in front of a judge or when to ask questions or even what questions to ask.

I hope you will post this on TNT as I feel that the world needs to know how one sided this case is. I will fight for my son's human rights. I don't think that Taser International will be involved at the inquiry, now that they have managed to get rid of Mr. Sundhu and his expertise.

I think it is a miscarriage of justice to expect the victim's mother to act as a lawyer, to look at autopsy pictures and to have to question the witnesses. My opinion is that this will be a SHAM OF A WHITEWASH INQUIRY, JUST A BIG COVERUP. Ever since the day the lead investigator PETER DRAGANIUK.... LAUGHED at me, 6 weeks after my son's death, and he didn't even know what kind of tasers were used, I knew this case would not be handled well.

Thank you again Patti for all you do!!!!!! Pray for me to have the strength to make it through this. If you post this on TNT please add my contact info..... It is Bev Grimolfson TREVOR'S MOM, 1-204-638-3319....102 4th Ave. S.W. Dauphin,Manitoba R7N 1T7 E-mail jypsywind@hotmail.com

It's a travesty that families receive no funding for these coroners inquests/fatality inquiries, which are "supposed" to be for the family's benefit. We had the same problem at our inquest in BC and I`ve heard from other families in the exact same boat. I think it`s a nationwide problem but it`s a problem that most Canadians don`t even know exists until it arrives inside the borders of their own world. I guess, as families, we are just expected to sit there and shut up. We don`t even have to BE there and it would likely be preferable if we didn`t even show up. But if we do, we`re expected to just listen to the testimony of the police and the so-called "experts" and the rich lawyers who represent Taser International and hope that the jury stays awake long enough to understand the fine print. We are not encouraged to raise any questions or concerns of our own, unless we`re willing to sell the farm to pay for it.

Boy stunned with Taser was 'coherent': officer

November 8, 2010
CBC News

An Edmonton police officer accused of repeatedly deploying a Taser on Randy Fryingpan in 2002 told a police disciplinary hearing the youth was coherent at the time.

"He was violent, irate, he was rational ... he was coherent," Const. Mike Wasylyshen said of Fryingpan, who was then 16. "He directly hit me."

Wasylyshen recounted his version of what happened that night at his police disciplinary hearing Monday. He faces five charges under the Police Service Regulation of the Police Act, including two counts of unlawful or unnecessary exercise of authority and three counts of insubordination.

The constable was animated as he described what happened the night he arrested Fryingpan, now 25, who was drunk and passed out in the back of a car. Wasylyshen even got out of his chair to show the presiding officer how he used the device on the teen.

Wasylyshen responded to a call about an auto theft in the Abbotsfield area of Edmonton around 2:48 a.m. on Oct. 5, 2002. He told the hearing he didn't wait for backup when he came upon a vehicle with four people inside.

Three of the four were co-operative and were arrested without incident, Wasylyshen said. The fourth person was Fryingpan who was passed out in the back seat.

Fryingpan 'coherent,' constable says

Wasylyshen said he called to the youth: "Hey buddy, get up. It's the police."

As soon as the constable leaned in to touch Fryingpan, he said the youth immediately flung his left hand backwards, and tried to close the car door on him. Wasylyshen said he was struck by Fryingpan twice before he deployed the Taser.

Wasylyshen stunned the teen in the rib cage in an effort to gain compliance. It didn't work, so he used the stun gun again, negotiating with the teen the whole time.

"He was resisting even when I used the Taser," Wasylyshen said.

Wasylyshen's partner came to help as soon as Fryingpan was out of the car. Fryingpan growled and kicked his legs up and down as the officers tried to get him to the ground.

The Taser was then used on the teen's back. After continuing to struggle more, Wasylyshen said he was able to handcuff Fryingpan.

In total, the stun gun was deployed eight times within 68 seconds both inside and outside the car.

When he testified last week, Fryingpan said he recalls little about the incident. The only thing he remembered was being handcuffed by police and spitting up blood.

The constable's testimony continues Monday afternoon.

In 2005, a provincial court judge ruled Wasylyshen and his partner had violated Fryingpan's rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Judge Jack Easton called the officers' actions "cruel and unusual" treatment.

Alberta criminal trial lawyers slam police-discipline changes

November 5, 2010
Keith Gerein, Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON — The Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association is furious over provincial changes to the police discipline process, which the group says will make it more difficult to pursue complaints against misbehaving officers.

The proposed rules were introduced in the legislature Thursday by Solicitor General Frank Oberle, who said they were needed to streamline and speed up how such cases are handled. Changes include restrictions on who can launch a complaint, more powers to dismiss frivolous complaints and provisions to shorten appeals.

The lawyers' association said it was most concerned by an amendment that will stop "third parties" from making complaints. Only people directly affected by an officer's behaviour, their loved ones, or witnesses would be allowed to make submissions under the proposed rules.

"This will prevent people who see something in the news that disturbs them from lodging complaints," Oberle told his fellow MLAs Thursday.

"They were not witnesses to or impacted by the event, nor are they related to or acting on behalf of a complainant. Complaints of this nature eat up both time and resources and this proposal will prevent these types of complaints from going forward."

Lawyers' association member Tom Engel, an outspoken critic of the Edmonton Police Service in recent years, believes this rule change is specifically targeted at his organization. As a third party, his association has brought forward complaints for people unable or unwilling to proceed on their own, he said, noting the case of homeless people who were allegedly rounded up in a police van and dumped in a different part of the city.

"This will basically make it impossible for us," Engel said. "It's very apparent that they are trying to cut the CTLA out of the equation. It's very apparent the police services here have the ear of the solicitor general.

"They like to sweep things under the carpet and obviously having the CTLA around wasn't working for them."

A spokeswoman for the solicitor general said groups like Engel's will still have the option of bringing their concerns about an officer to the police chief, but the case would proceed only if the chief himself then decides to launch a complaint.

Another contentious amendment says that in cases involving "non-serious" incidents, the police chief's decision will be considered final. Currently, such decisions can be appealed to the Law Enforcement Review Board. Taking away that appeal avenue is unfair to both complainants and officers, and will allow chiefs to keep case details under wraps, Engel said.

"If he doesn't want something to see the light of day ... you're going to see a big increase in dispositions without hearings."

Other proposed changes include:

- - Provisions to allow the review board to get through appeals faster, including holding fewer trial-like oral hearings;

- - Greater powers for cases to be dismissed when the complainant declines to participate in hearings or misbehaves;

- - Allowing alternative dispute resolutions in appropriate cases.

"In some cases all that is needed for resolution is a simple apology or acknowledgment of the complaint," Oberle said.

"An officer who is seen as disrespectful during a routine traffic stop might be a good example where alternative dispute resolution would work."

The amendments fall short of the Edmonton Police Association's call for all police complaints to be handled by a civilian oversight body.