Ottawa police to review Nunavut RCMP cell-block video

Iqaluit RCMP have confirmed that the Ottawa Police Service will conduct an external review of a cell-block scuffle between three police officers and a naked prisoner to determine whether excessive force was used.

“RCMP personnel will not be involved in reviewing [the incident], which also means that we, the RCMP, do not have any say in the length or timing of the investigation,” wrote RCMP Sgt. Yvonne Niego in a Feb. 23 email to Nunatsiaq News.

The video in question, which shows three officers restraining Eetooloo Ejetsiak and leaving him lying bloodied on the floor of an Iqaluit RCMP detachment holding cell Jan. 2, was shown in open court Feb. 12 during a sentencing hearing for Ejetsiak. He was facing serious assault and uttering threat charges at the time.

Also on Feb. 23, the Nunavut Court of Justice ruled the video cannot be released to the media.

Nunatsiaq News had filed a request on Feb. 19 for a copy of the video footage, which had been entered as an exhibit during Ejetsiak’s trial.

In responding to that request, court records officer Clare Henderson said that despite the court’s desire to adhere to the “open court principle” and to maintain “a presumption of open access,” the evidence would nonetheless be restricted for privacy reasons.

“Given the contents of the exhibit requested and the vulnerable nature of the citizen as depicted in the record I must consider the compelling privacy interest that is present on the face of the materials,” Henderson wrote in her ruling.

A story published by Nunatsiaq News on Feb. 16 describing the video prompted Nunavut’s RCMP “V” division to issue a press release, disagreeing with how the video was characterized in that article.

But the release said the RCMP would conduct a review of the incident, “to be accountable and transparent to the people of Nunavut.”

The RCMP did not say when the review would be conducted or how long it would take.

The video became public after defence lawyer Joseph Murdoch-Flowers showed it in court to support an argument that Ejetsiak deserves special consideration under the Supreme Court of Canada’s Gladue principles — relevant when sentencing Aboriginal offenders.

Three RCMP members are seen in the footage — one of them pointing a taser gun at the prisoner’s chest. They enter Ejetsiak’s cell as he sits on a cell bench with his shirt wrapped around his neck. The officers remove all of Ejetsiak’s clothing.

As the officers slowly back up towards the cell door, Ejetsiak stands up and appears to try to kick one of the officers, but misses.

At that point the three officers jump on Ejetsiak and appear to punch him until he’s left lying on the cell floor with a pool of blood beneath his head.

RCMP escorted Ejetsiak to the hospital later that night where he received stitches on his face.

Murdoch-Flowers and Crown prosecutor Zachary Horricks made a joint sentencing submission, accepted by Justice Bonnie Tulloch on Feb. 18 after Ejetsiak pleaded guilty to 14 of the 15 charges he faced.

The most serious charges included uttering death threats, threatening a shooting spree at Iqaluit’s Northmart and one count of assault with a weapon.

With the submission, Murdoch-Flowers said he no longer held a position on the relevance of the video in Tulloch’s sentencing decision.

Had Murdoch-Flowers argued the video should still be relevant in sentencing, Tulloch said the Crown would have been permitted to provide context for the video, which likely would have included testimony from the police officers in question.

Horricks said he also would have called an expert on the use of force to “explain why it was appropriate for [the officers] to deal with the accused in the fashion that they did.”

The Nunavut Court of Justice’s access restriction to the video includes a ban on publishing it on any electronic or online platform, but “does not pertain to written or verbal references to the exhibit.”

“There are no alternative remedies other than restricting access that will prevent the detrimental effects to this citizen’s personal integrity and privacy interests,” Henderson wrote.

Those who wish to view the video may do so at the Iqaluit courthouse, in the presence of the court records officer or her designate.