Court records reveal that 10 months ago, Const. Simon Seguin, 31, was criminally charged with assault, mischief and unlawfully entering a dwelling house.
Seguin was seen on a March 2020 RCMP dashcam video tackling Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. The video shows Seguin taking the chief to the ground without warning, punching him in the head and putting him in a chokehold. Charges against Adam for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer were dropped by the Crown in Fort McMurray on Wednesday.
Janice Johnston
The Fort McMurray RCMP officer now being investigated by the Alberta Serious Incident Response team for the violent arrest of a First Nations chief will go to trial in September on three unrelated criminal charges.
Court records reveal that 10 months ago, Const. Simon Seguin, 31, was criminally charged with assault, mischief and unlawfully entering a dwelling house.
"He did attend a residence while he was off duty and attempted to gain access inside this home," RCMP spokesperson Fraser Logan told CBC News. "An altercation ensued with two occupants inside before he left the residence."
Logan said Seguin had a personal relationship with one of the home's occupants. He said he didn't know if the woman who was allegedly assaulted is the one Seguin had that relationship with.
CBC News first learned of the criminal charges against Seguin on Tuesday. They were not made public by RCMP.
Logan admitted that is a departure from their typical practice.
"This is not normal for us," Logan said. "That is something that we are concerned about because internally we don't know exactly why those charges weren't made public. That is something we normally do."
© Peter Evans/CBC The Fort McMurray house Cst. Seguin is being investigated for unlawfully entering last August.
Seguin was seen on a March 2020 RCMP dashcam video tackling Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. The video shows Seguin taking the chief to the ground without warning, punching him in the head and putting him in a chokehold.
Charges against Adam for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer were dropped by the Crown in Fort McMurray on Wednesday.
Chief Adam was taken aback when CBC News told him about the criminal charges against Seguin.
© Peter Evans/CBC The reaction of Chief Allan Adam (left) when he's told the RCMP officer who tackled him faces unrelated criminal charges. He spoke to CBC News along with his lawyer Brian Beresh.
"I'm speechless because I was not aware of this information," Adam said.
His lawyer is demanding accountability from the RCMP. Brian Beresh wants to know why Seguin remains on front-line active duty.
"It was only recently that this information was discovered," Brian Beresh said. "I'm very surprised that this was not revealed publicly and I'm very surprised ... that this person has not been suspended."
Logan said an internal evaluation after the August 2019 incident determined Seguin should not be pulled off the job. But he said that status would likely be reviewed after the conclusion of the criminal trial.
ASIRT, who are investigating Adam's arrest, did not respond to an email asking if the police watchdog was aware of the criminal charges that had been laid 10 months ago against Seguin.
Code of conduct hearing
CBC News has learned an RCMP Code of Conduct hearing was held on March 26, 16 days after Seguin tackled Adam.
A source told CBC News Seguin was given a one-day suspension for the mischief allegation and received a letter of reprimand on his file for the assault allegation.
Logan was unable to explain the timing of the hearing or why it was held before Seguin's September trial.
"Honestly I don't know," Logan said. "It's a parallel process and it comes up when it comes up. It's supposed to come up when any concern has been brought to light."
Beresh said he's also at a loss to understand the timing of the internal hearing.
"I think this case leaves us with more questions than answers," Beresh said. "I think the RCMP have to provide all those answers publicly as soon as possible."
A criminologist with Mount Royal University in Calgary, Kelly Sundberg, described the situation as unacceptable.
"It's concerning and frankly, it's disturbing," Sundberg said. "What justification could the RCMP possibly have that this officer would maintain active duty in light of everything that's come to public view? It's unbelievable."
© CBC Mount Royal University criminologist Kelly Sundberg described the Seguin case as concerning and disturbing.
Sundberg thinks the RCMP needs to take immediate action to rectify the situation.
"Just for the credibility and legitimacy of our criminal justice system and for the police, surely someone would think of putting him on administrative leave, even if paid, until all this shakes out," Sundberg said
SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-true-victory-charges-dropped-against.html
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