Warning: The following story refers to an offensive remark.
The public hearing into the alleged misconduct of seven Vancouver Police Department (VPD) officers in the 2015 death of Myles Gray is “in jeopardy” after an obscenity was uttered and caught on a microphone last week.
As lawyers discussed police radio broadcasts Wednesday, one of multiple mics in the hearing room at UBC Robson Square in Vancouver picked up a clear phrase: “stupid c–t.”
The hearing resumed Monday after a delay, and public hearing counsel Brad Hickford, through his lawyer Richard Neary, said with “almost unbearable regret” he felt as if he had no choice but to withdraw as public hearing counsel.
Neary also said Hickford did not intentionally make the remark and does not recall doing so, but has listened to the recording and acknowledged it is possible he did so unintentionally.
Public hearing counsel plays a critically important role, one similar to a prosecutor, in a public hearing held by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
But adjudicator Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey said the hearing should not be further delayed and invited Hickford to return to the hearing.
“A great deal is at stake, and much stands to be lost,” Arnold-Bailey said.
She said the 10-week hearing — one of the largest of its kind in scope — is “in jeopardy of being adjourned” which, practically speaking, would mean a six to 12-month delay.
She stressed it has already been more than a decade since Gray died.
She said Hickford had played a key role in finding witnesses and evidence for the hearing and added he is “fundamentally important” to the hearing continuing as scheduled.
Arnold-Bailey also said after reviewing the tape she was “left with a doubt as to who uttered the vulgarity.” She also noted it appeared the comment was either directed towards Claire Hatcher, counsel for one of the police officers involved in Gray’s death, or herself.
She said she did not want to minimize the obscenity but said the task at hand is more important.
“Why would we let a few vulgar words uttered into a mic delay and possibly destroy all that has been done to date to have this public hearing?”
She urged Hickford and the other lawyers to allow the proceedings to continue.
“Let’s get over it, and get on with it,” Arnold-Bailey said.
The Law Society of B.C., which regulates lawyers, is investigating the incident.
Neary said on behalf of Hickford, his client is prepared to return if that is possible.
On Monday, there were markedly fewer microphones set up around the hearing room — and even so, another technical difficulty interrupted the proceedings.
Voices from the overflow room were heard from the video conference system in the main hearing room, and Arnold-Bailey briefly adjourned the proceedings until it was sorted out, wryly describing technology as “unreliable.”
The hearing has been adjourned until Tuesday while lawyers for the police officers involved discuss next steps with their clients.
After sharing Hickford’s comments from his resignation letter, Neary added the remark in question would not be connected to anyone’s sex, but rather amount to “a terrible mistake in the form of a muttered insult escaped in a flash of anger which could have been directed to a male or a female.”
He added the term is not always used in a misogynistic way, and said he has heard it “bandied about between men countless times in my life, particularly on job sites while working construction jobs.”
Lawyers for the VPD officers asked Arnold-Bailey to have the rest of the day to consult with their clients.
Ian Donaldson, lawyer for the Gray family, quoted a Supreme Court of Canada case that said litigation is not a tea party.
Donaldson said vulgarities should not occur, but it is more important to investigate the circumstances around Gray’s death.
“We ought not to elevate an unfortunate, obscene comment … to the level where we’re thinking that it’s more important than the public interest in getting to the bottom of what happened,” Donaldson said.
He added further delay would cause pain to the Gray family — but he added they have learned to be patient over the last decade due to delays outside their control.
“I’m confident that there’s no pain from an adjournment that would equal the pain of losing [their] son in the first place.”
