A former British Columbia Mountie who was acquitted of assault says his case never should have gone to trial, and is an example of a “two-tiered” justice system.
Paul Mittlesteadt joined the RCMP late in life, at age 47, culminating a life-long dream.
He left the force just a few years later, in September 2021, amid an investigation into a takedown of an in-custody prisoner the year prior.
“You don’t do that job for the money, you do it because you believe in the cause,” Mittlesteadt told Global News.
“And when your job is to serve the public and uphold the law and then you are accused of a criminal offence or a crime, it really affects your integrity, it really affects how people might see you.”
In July 2020, Mittlesteadt was tasked with escorting a prisoner dealing with drug withdrawal symptoms from RCMP cells to the Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
According to the former officer, the man became increasingly combative and violent during their wait in the emergency department, culminating with the man spitting in his face.
“It ended up with him actually spitting in my mouth, on my chin, on my cheek on my neck, he covered my chest and arms, pretty much got me everywhere,” he told Global News.
“At that point, to stop the assaultive behaviour I took him in a controlled fashion to the ground from his chair with his hands cuffed in the front.”
Mittlesteadt spent two weeks in COVID-19 quarantine, and emerged to discover that he, not the prisoner, was under investigation for assault over the incident.
The B.C. Prosecution Service approved charges in the case in February 2022.
The complainant, who died recently, was not seriously injured in the incident, and the Crown’s case was based primarily on a phone interview with the man.
At trial, the judge declined to admit that evidence, and in a blunt reason for judgement after just two days declared “insufficient evidence” in the Crown’s case and acquitted him.
Lawyer Ravi Hira told Global News he has more than half a dozen cases similar to Mittlesteadt’s, involving officers charged with assault for doing their jobs and using force as set out in national standards.
He said Crown prosecutors too often takes marginal cases against officers to court, and argued the process needs to be reviewed.
“Police officers are integral to the rule of law, and they shouldn’t be treated in a manner inconsistent with the way the Crown treats the public,” he said.
“If a police officer does something wrong, he or she must be held accountable. And the public needs that to happen. These are case after case where there was nothing there and we still wasted resources.”
B.C. Attorney General Nikki Sharma said the independence of the charge approval process and the Crown prosecutions office is critical.
“I do know it’s very important that politics stays out of the individual decisions of the prosecution service,” she said.
“I do know they take their charge assessment very seriously, so they are required to look at 2 parts, one is there a strong likelihood of (conviction) and the second part is it in the public interest to do so.
In a statement, the B.C. Prosecution Service said it applies the same charge assessment guidelines to police officers as to anyone else.
For his part, Mittlesteadt said he feels like he was a victim of politics, and that he was not supported by his superiors.
“We’re always trained as Mounties to seek the truth. I believe in this case it was more about seeking a charge,” he said.
“I just want people to know that that can happen out there, even with the best intentions. It’s just a terrible ending to otherwise a lifetime dream.”