Key officers to testify at Frank Paul inquiry

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      After Frank Paul was found dead in the early hours of December 6, 1998, the Vancouver police department arranged that same morning for a lawyer to represent the officer who dumped the First Nations man in an alley the night before.

      That officer–Const. David Instant–is one of two key witnesses who are expected to be called any day when the public inquiry into Paul's death resumes on Monday (January 7). The other witness is former VPD sergeant Russell Sanderson, who, as the officer in charge of the Vancouver police jail at the time, refused to take in the 47-year-old Mi'kmaq man. Instead, Sanderson ordered Instant, who was a police-wagon driver at that time, to drop Paul somewhere near Maple Street and Broadway in Kitsilano.

      Instant, who had been a cop for just four months, ended up leaving Paul in an alley by the 300 block of East 1st Avenue. An autopsy determined that he died of hypothermia.

      According to Vancouver lawyer Cameron Ward, counsel for the United Native Nations Society, the testimonies of both Instant and Sanderson will be significant.

      "It will be an opportunity for the first time, I think, to hear from them why they made the decisions they did in dealing with Mr. Paul that night and to probe their decision-making process and try to understand how it was that Mr. Paul came to be left where his body was found," Ward told the Georgia Straight.

      Ward said that important testimony is also expected from two forensic pathologists: Dr. Laurel Gray, who performed the autopsy on Paul, and Dr. Rex Ferris, who has suggested in the past that Paul may have died in the police wagon.

      The inquiry, being led by former B.C. Supreme Court justice William Davies, has heard from 30 witnesses since hearings started in November.

      Instant was the last person who saw and touched Paul before the latter's body was discovered. The police officer had reported that he had propped the man up against a building wall on the evening of December 5, 1998. David Kelly was one of the two civilians who found Paul's body. He testified that the body was "in the middle of the alleyway".

      Const. Darryl Ell was driving a police wagon in the early morning of December 6, 1998, when two men flagged him down. Ell testified at the inquiry that he saw the body lying on the ground about 12 feet away from the closest building. Ell left the scene when another officer, Sgt. Ray Winters, and the ambulance arrived.

      Ell also testified that when he passed by later, he saw at the scene Winters, Instant, and two other constables, Derek Peterson and Robert Turner.

      Although Kelly and Ell both testified that they saw Paul lying on his back, Const. Peterson said at the inquiry that he and his partner, Const. Turner, saw Paul in a seated position against the rear of a building.

      It was Peterson and Turner who had earlier found a drunken Paul on the evening of December 5, 1998, called for a wagon that was being driven by Instant, and recommended that Paul be taken to the jail, which was then under the command of Sanderson.

      Winters, acting sergeant for the area, testified that Instant arrived at the scene soon after the body was found. Winters recalled that when it became apparent to him that he was looking at a possible in-custody death, he told Instant to stop talking. Winters also said that he assigned Peterson and Turner to conduct the investigation.

      Paul family lawyer Steven Kelliher asked Winters if he wanted to protect Instant. "Certainly I wanted to protect his rights," Winters responded.

      Ward asked Winters whether or not he recalled arranging a lawyer for Instant, Peterson, and Turner.

      "I may have," Winters responded. "I don't recall. I recall arranging for counsel for those members or for Const. Instant for certain."

      After Ward pressed for when the lawyer was contacted, Winters replied: "I'm not sure of the exact time that counsel was called, but I recall ensuring that Const. Instant had counsel prior to retiring from the shift."

      Comments