WINNIPEG – A jury has found two Winnipeg police officers not guilty of shooting an unarmed man and then trying to cover it up.
Const. Darrel Selley was charged with attempted murder using a firearm and criminal negligence causing bodily harm in the shooting of Kristofer Shaun Fournier in 2007.
Selly and Const. Kristopher John Overwater had pleaded not guilty to intending to wound Fournier by firing a Glock .40-calibre handgun, aggravated assault and obstruction of justice.
“There were a lot of tears in the courtroom when the verdict was handed down,” defence lawyer Hymie Weinstein told radio station CJOB late Friday afternoon.
“They’ve had this hanging over their heads for about five years where their fate and future was totally uncertain and I know, having been with the family for the last three weeks or so, they were also very emotional, very tense, not knowing what’s going to happen to their loved ones.”
Jurors heard the officers were looking for a suspect in a nearby robbery when they tried to arrest Fournier.
Fournier, who still has the bullet lodged in his buttocks, admitted in court that he was a drug-dealing car stealer and drove at excessive speeds through residential neighbourhoods high on methamphetamine.
Prosecutor Robert Tapper had argued the officers lied 16 times in their official report of the incident.
But Weinstein said the jury, which began its deliberations Wednesday evening, took its time to go over each of the charges the officers faced.
“…They found clearly there was a reasonable doubt and that’s why they had to acquit.”
Fournier’s credibility was attacked by the defence lawyers for his extensive criminal past. But Fournier fought back, telling jurors he’s a changed man, having obtained a full-time job, moved out of the city, and found a steady relationship.
He was taken into custody by sheriff’s officers as he left the witness stand in January after the defence revealed in court that there was an outstanding warrant out for his arrest on new criminal charges.
(CJOB, The Canadian Press)
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