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TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2013
Proudly serving Williams Lake and the Cariboo-Chilcotin since 1930
VOL. 83. No. 33
$1.30 inc. TAX
Tribune photo CLOSE CALL wins award The Williams Lake Tribune was once again an award winner this past Saturday night at the BC and Yukon Community Newspapers Association’s (BCYCNA) 2013 Ma Murray Awards. Tribune sports editor Greg Sabatino garnered a gold medal in the feature photo, colour, under 25,000 circulation category for his ‘Toughin it out through the dust’ Williams Lake Stampede mountain horse race photo. The judges said: “Planning, action, timing plus a little luck equals a unique, one-of-a-kind great image.” The Outlook West Vancouver’s Rob Newell took silver, while the Coast Reporter’s Justin Samson won bronze. The awards banquet and gala was hosted in Richmond at the River Rock Casino Resort’s River Rock Show Theatre. Angie Mindus photo
Bull rider Charlie Attril braces for a rough landing as rodeo bull Grasslands Timadator 25 bears down on him during the Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo Saturday afternoon. Attril didn’t receive a score for his efforts, however, he did manage to escape with his life.
Inside the Tribune NEWS Fire agreement reached.
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SPORTS A8 Peel Out bike festival coming up. COMMUNITY Play highlights lakecity.
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Weather outlook: Rain and clouds expected until Thursday. Highs of 10-15 C.
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RCMP officer acquitted on assault charge Monica Lamb-Yorski Tribune Staff Writer Williams Lake RCMP Const. Andy Yung has been acquitted on a charge of assault against Jamie Haller of Williams Lake, who suffered injuries while in the custody of police on Sept. 10, 2011 in Williams Lake. Haller was 17 years old at the time of the incident. Judge Randall William Callan gave his ruling in Williams Lake provincial court on April 22, saying he had no reason to doubt Yung’s evidence. Summarizing events Callan said initially the RCMP were called after civilians heard a female screaming in the forested area in the vicinity of Midnight Drive and Western Avenue. When police located Haller, she was hiding behind a home on Western Avenue. “They identified themselves as police, and attempted to speak to her,” Callan said. “She was not co-operative and continued to be hysterical. They arrested her for being drunk in a public place. She was handcuffed.
Crown and defence agreed this was a lawful arrest.” During the three-day trial held in Williams Lake provincial court Jan. 21 to 23, Haller testified she was punched in the face several times by Yung while she was handcuffed in the back seat of a patrol car, and another officer held her legs. At the trial Yung did not deny that he punched Haller in the face several times. He said he went to the back of the police car and opened the door because Haller was kicking violently. He testified that when he opened the door, Haller kicked him in the face, grabbed his neck in a scissor hold, and began pulling him toward her. After trying to apply a pressure point to force her to let go, he punched her until she released him from the scissor hold, Yung said. “Const. Yung’s belief that it was necessary to use force to remove himself from a scissor lock was reasonable,” Callan said in his ruling. “I accept the evidence that he believed he had run out of options, and did not know whether the other constables could help him.”
Evidence presented by Const. Yung was corroborated in part by Const. Dan Hay, Const. Steven Stewart and Haller’s mother Martina Jeff, who testified as witnesses at the trial, Callan added. Constables Hay and Stewart, also on duty the night of the incident, testified they saw that Haller had Const. Yung in a scissor hold. “Const. Hay testified he was shocked to see Jamie Haller’s buttocks and feet over her head, and her ankles locked behind Const. Yung’s neck,” Callan said. At the trial, Haller’s mother Jeff testified she was behind the police car and saw Const. Yung at the right rear door of the car making punching motions with his arm and then pulling back and closing the door, Callan said. Callan also said testimony given by the civilian witnesses and the RCMP witnesses, stated Jamie Haller was “highly intoxicated, agitated and kicking at anyone in range.” Outside the courthouse, Jeff said she was very upset about the Judge’s ruling.
“I’m an Aboriginal person,” Jeff said. “If that was me going to court for assaulting somebody like that I would have definitely got charged. I would have definitely gotten thrown in jail. It breaks my heart. He admitted that he hit her. What is wrong with the judge? It’s because we’re natives.” Shaking her head, Haller said she was also upset, and said there was no way she could have got her legs up and over her head to put Yung in a scissor hold. Williams Lake RCMP Insp. Warren Brown said it was a set of “very unfortunate circumstances” that resulted in the court case. “Any time a police officer is charged with a criminal offence based on conduct or performance that concerns me,” Brown said. “As the judge said today, police are often faced with violence and unpredictable circumstances. They have a split second often to react and often have to live by those decisions.” See OBSERVER Page A4