Watch above: A trial has begun for a Saskatoon police officer accused of obstructing justice when a victim statement disappeared. Meaghan Craig is at court and brings us details from day one.
SASKATOON – A two-day trial is underway at provincial court in Saskatoon, the accused a nine-year member of the Saskatoon Police Service. Charged with attempting to obstruct justice , Const. Steven Nelson has been suspended with pay from the service since October 2014.
On Tuesday, four Crown witnesses took the stand including the woman who said she made a statement to Nelson on Aug. 12, 2012 regarding an alleged domestic dispute. She told court she then wanted to recant that statement and made a second statement at police headquarters the next day.
It’s this second statement that mysteriously disappeared between August 2012 and October 2013, leading to the charge.
Nelson, 33, has pleaded not guilty to attempting to obstruct justice and had nothing to say when court broke during the noon hour.
READ MORE: Saskatoon Police Service suspends constable with pay
Tried by judge alone, the Crown rested its case on Tuesday and court heard from Melony Johnson who’s second statement was misplaced.
She testified that she made the whole alleged assault up and when she called Nelson saying she wanted to recant, he told her it wasn’t necessary. Nonetheless, Johnson visited the old police headquarters at the time to say she didn’t want to proceed with charges and to retract her statement.
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Johnson filled out a second statement, half-a-page in length, on Aug. 13 and left it with the officer at the front desk.
Const. Tyler Melnychuk with the special investigation unit was the officer at the front desk that evening. He testified in court that he contacted Nelson who was on duty regarding this second statement.
“That can be ripped up,” said Nelson, explaining to Melnychuk that he had already told the woman the charges could not be dropped.
An audio recording of this discussion between the two constables was played in court.
The constable told court he did not do as Nelson advised and handed the statement to him upon his return to the station to proceed with further follow-up.
Melnychuk told court he had no intention of ripping up the statement especially at the request of another officer. He was also concerned that the accused in the alleged domestic dispute was still “arrestable” for a charge he didn’t commit.
Senior Crown prosecutor, Sheryl Fillo, also took the stand, testifying that she was unaware of the second statement provided by Johnson but that it came up in court when the domestic dispute went to trial in Jan. 16, 2013.
When Johnson recanted her story on the stand, Fillo twice asked Nelson to look for a possible second statement provided. Both times Nelson couldn’t find evidence of it and was asked to provided copies of surveillance footage taken of the front desk area from Aug. 13, Aug. 14 and Aug. 15 at the Crown’s request. On Aug. 13, Johnson can be seen in the surveillance footage.
The charges in the domestic dispute were stayed.
Prior to this charge, Nelson had no blemishes on his record. He is not believed to have known either person involved in the alleged domestic dispute.
His trial will resume Wednesday.
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