A perjury charge that was laid against Calgary Police Association President, Les Kaminski, has been dropped.
Kaminski was charged with assault and perjury after video surfaced of a traffic stop in 2008 that showed a man being hit and thrown into the back of a police unit.
The assault charge was withdrawn in July of last year.
Fellow officer, Brant Derrick, was also charged with assault and he was found not guilty in December.
“This was an issue of whether or not the allegation of perjury was made out, I always felt it wasn’t, not even close. There was some discussion, there was another intervening trial, and I think the Crown counsel on advice from other senior Crown counsel chose to withdraw the charges today, which is great news for Les Kaminski,” said defence attorney, Alain Hepner.
Hepner says the allegation was stressful for his client and that he can now move forward.
“Anytime a police officer is charged with any offence it’s stressful, let alone an offence alleging perjury at a trial, which was, in my view, was never established in any event,” he said. “Now he can move forward and really do some of the things to represent his colleagues like he wants to do.”
Kaminski read a statement to the media following the decision saying…
“My faith in the legal system was reaffirmed today. I know my responsibility to the public and the Calgary Police Service and I would never, nor did I, mislead the court in any way. In addition, I have utmost respect for the courts and the justice system. I am appreciative that the facts have been examined and I have received a fair review. My faith in our justice system is strong. Police work is inherently hazardous. It puts police officers in dangerous situations, dealing with hardened criminals. I’ve dedicated my life to protecting our citizens from the criminal element and have spent over 30 years as a street cop to make Calgary a better and safer place to live. It’s not easy to be a police officer accused of a criminal offence, in fact, it’s most stressful. As difficult as this has been, I knew in my heart that when this was given a full complete review, that the right thing would happen. I’d like to thank the many people who continued to express their confidence and support for me throughout the entire process. It was extremely reassuring to have so many of my colleagues support me. It’s now time to get back to hard work without any pressures and fulfill my mandate as president of the Calgary Police Association, this is where my heart lies.”
Kaminski says it has been a long year and that his recollection of events was quite different from the video.
He says he is going to push the service for body cameras to help officers capture events as they happen to support their field notes.
An inquiry has now been launched by the Law Enforcement Review Board to look into how the case was handled.
