The mother of Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant who was Tasered in an altercation with the RCMP at the Vancouver International Airport in 2007, says she is happy beyond words after hearing one of the officers who stunned her son was found guilty of perjury today.
Zofia Cisowski was very emotional speaking to reporters outside the court room.
Millington initially told homicide investigators that Dziekanski remained standing after the first jolt of the Taser and that he was still standing when Millington pulled the trigger a second time. But an amateur video that was released later clearly showed Dziekanski fell to the ground after the first deployment.
Millington testified at the inquiry that he honestly believed at the time that Dziekanski was standing, even though he acknowledged on the stand that he was mistaken.
B.C. Supreme Court Judge William Ehrcke said Millington’s explanation was “patently false.”
“There was a single charge of perjury before the court which contained 10 separate averments, allegations of perjury that was alleged to have been committed by the officer,” Neil MacKenzie with the Criminal Justice Branch told reporters. “The court ultimately concluded that six of those have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and that was a sufficient basis on which to convict Constable Millington of perjury.”
Millington’s verdict marks the first time a judge has concluded that one of the officers lied. Another Mountie, Const. Bill Bentley, was acquitted in 2013, while two other cases have not yet concluded.
Cisowski says while the justice system was good to her today, she still wants to see changes in the future. She says she would like to see Millington go to jail, “because every person should have the right to live.”
With files from the Canadian Press
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