BY RICHARD DUPLAIN
The Daily Gleaner, Thursday Dec 18, 1997, Page B2
Judge critical of investigation procedures
"It would rival the Keystone Cops except the Keystone Cops actions
would have more believability I have never seen an investigation and a
raid like this in the annals of the police"
In what may be one of the most bizarre court cases in New Brunswick history,
a provincial court judge has compared the RCMP to the comical Keystone Cops of
movie fame.
Last month Judge H. Hazen Strange acquitted Lloyd B. Laking, 46, of McAdam
on a charge of boot-legging liquor He said 15 minutes of good investigation might have
turned the case around.
Evidence before the court showed RCMP laid siege to Laking's home on Dec.
6,1996, with their specialized emergency response team, 25 officers and a backhoe
to be used as a battering ram.
Police recovered no evidence to support the charge so Strange dismissed it.
'It would rival the Keystone Cops except the Keystone Cops' actions would
have more believability. I have never seen an investigation and a raid like this in the
annals of the police" said Strange.
He said Laking had a house made over to accommodate parties for his friends.
It was equipped with lights, a beer freezer, pool table, music and tables and chairs.
"It's a marvellous thing," Strange said, calling it a "party palace."
"To be perfectly frank, I wasn't born yesterday and I have a lot of problem thinking that all of this is done out of the goodness of your heart. I suspect quite the contrary," he said.
"But suspicions aren't proof." Evidence showed the RCMP arrived at the home
with a search warrant issued under the Liquor Control Act. Police thought Laking
was selling liquor.
"Twenty-five policemen, a number of whom are part of an ERT group
(arrived,) It gets absolutely ludicrous...what is an ERT doing there?
What, are '25 police doing there...when they haven't even got any evidence?"
"It now gets worse," said Strange.. He said the RCMP put the backhoe up
against what appeared on the outside to be a door. In fact, the door had been boarded
up and a wall covered it from the inside. The front door and the windows on the front
are boarded up and there's a wall inside.
"So what does this group of highly trained police professionals do? They take a backhoe and try to beat in a non-existent door which hasn't been used in over a year," he said.
Pointing out how ludicrous the situation was ,Strange said a videotape
made by RCMP illustrates their bungling. While viewing the tape he could hear grunts
and groans coming from blurred images on a darkened video screen.
'Strange said he though police were trying to break in through the door
of the residence but in fact they were still in the police van trying to get out.
"The van door finally opened the RCMP went pouring out, armed to the teeth'
he said
"It's got to be the most farcical thing I have ever seen and if somebody had
told me that I wouldn't have believed it," Strange said.
Then the RCMP tried to open a real door but they tugged the wrong way
while the accused was trying to let them in.
He said he would never believe that a whole ERT squad could get locked in
the back of a van but he normally would not believe the RCMP who carried out a
surveillance could ever get a backhoe up to beat down a non functional door.
"So I've never seen such a farcical exercise in my life and this court, quite frankly, will not change suspicions into fact," Strange said.