Up front: Red Balloon building dropped back down to earth page 3 Cowichan Family: Need-to-knows for those considering adoption page 12 For all the news of the Cowichan region as it happens, plus stories from around British Columbia, go to our website www.cowichannewsleader.com Your news leader since 1905
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Stress, not self-defence led to shooting judge rules Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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Andrew Leong
Supporters including Susanne Sarioglu, right, rallied at Duncan city square on Thursday, Feb. 14, for Cowichan Rising, part of a worldwide awareness campaign called One Billion Rising aimed at drawing attention to the issue of violence against women.
V-Day letter perfect organizers say Cowichan Rising: violence against women awareness event gets top marks Ashley Degraaf
News Leader Pictorial
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motional. Empowering. Evoking. Engaging. These are just some of the words used to describe Cowichan’s series of events based on the international V-Day phenomenon. “The energy was just as we expected,” organizer of the city square Feb. 14 event Nika Stafford said. “It brought the intention to the gathering and it really started things out on an encouraging and empowering note.” The gathering began at the Matraea Centre and saw 150-or so folks march to city square
where a Àash mob of song and dance broke out. Several folks also spoke, including Stafford, Jen Holden, Lynn Weaver, Heidi Mendenhall and Grant Waldman. The Àash-mob was a highlight for Stafford. “That part was really fun and it turned out well,” she said of the co-ordinated dance communities all over the world took part in. “We danced another three songs after that too and we all thought ‘We should do this more often. We should really start dancing at city square on our lunch breaks.’” Instead of one group leading the charge promoting this year’s V-Day events, all powered by the goal of ending violence against women and girls — the V stands for victory, valentine and vagina — groups came together to form
the celebrations, all staged under the umbrella label Cowichan Rises. Along with the city square event, Cowichan Women Against Violence hosted its annual art show and photography contest Feb. 16 before the Cowichan Theatre staged Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monolgues later that evening. “It was an amazing event,” Cowichan Theatre’s Kirsten Schrader said of the Monologues. more on page 6
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ear-induced stress, not self defence, was key in RCMP Const. David Pompeo’s shooting of Bill Gillespie near Chemainus on Sept. 18, 2009, Judge Josiah Wood explains in his reasons for ¿nding Pompeo guilty Thursday of aggravated assault. Duncan court judge Wood issued his 83-page summary for judgement Friday. The extent to which Pompeo’s perceptions that dark night in a driveway were “distorted by fear-induced stress is also evident from the fact (Pompeo) was oblivious to what transpired between Gillespie and Const. (David) Birchett (Pompeo’s police partner).” Const. David Pompeo At issue during testimony was Pompeo’s belief he shot in self defence as he thought Gillespie, who was later deemed unarmed, was about to pull a gun from his pocket. That belief sparked fear in Pompeo whose pistol, and that of Birchett, were drawn when Gillespie, and passenger Dale Brewer, were stopped and got out of their Saturn sedan. Had Pompeo realized what was unfolding, and recognized Gillespie eventually followed Birchett’s order to get on the ground, “Const. Pompeo’s threat assessment ought to have moderated to the point where he would at least have been able to wait to see if Gillespie’s left hand actually went into his pocket before (Pompeo) decided to pull the trigger,” Wood writes. But Wood explains Pompeo’s ability to accurately perceive an actual threat by Gillespie — namely Pompeo’s concern Gillespie was reaching for a gun when stepping from the Saturn — was affected, prompting Pompeo’s “inability to see anything other than threat cues from that point on — and the extent to which his growing fear provoked a stress that adversely affected both his vision, and his ability to hear.” more on page 6
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