'It just defies logic': lawyer in python case says RCMP passed buck to courts

Senior Mounties were just passing the buck to the courts when they ignored the RCMP's own findings and decided to pursue charges against the owner of a snake that killed two Campbellton boys, says the lawyer who defended the owner.

Leslie Matchim represents Jean-Claude Savoie, 40, who was charged after his 3.8-metre-long African rock python escaped its enclosure in August 2013 and killed two brothers, aged 6 and 4, while they slept in his apartment. Savoie was found not guilty in a jury trial last fall.

A CBC report Monday revealed the RCMP changed its position and decided to pursue a charge less than 24 hours after Commissioner Bob Paulson was given a personal briefing on the investigation.

The force's officer in charge of criminal operations in New Brunswick had spent 30 minutes on the telephone explaining to Paulson why a charge of criminal negligence causing death was not warranted.

• RCMP boss briefed about python deaths hours before decision about charge changed

Matchim said the CBC investigation "seems to have corroborated what I've been expressing as a concern throughout."

"To avoid, I guess, the RCMP having to make tough decisions or have the buck stop here, so to speak, or be accountable for their decision, they seem to take the path of least resistance and say, 'Well, you know, we'll kick this up to the courts and that way if anything goes askew, they're answerable, not us,'" said Matchim.

"Our suspicions are now corroborated completely."

Savoie kept the python in his apartment above his Reptile Ocean pet store. 

The 24-kilogram snake escaped through a ventilation pipe in the ceiling of its enclosure.

When some ceiling tiles gave way under its weight, the snake got into the adjoining living room, where the boys were staying during a sleepover with Savoie's son.

The two brothers were asphyxiated.

No charges recommended

Cpl. Gabriel Deveau of the RCMP's major crime unit in northern New Brunswick led the initial investigation, which determined a charge of criminal negligence causing death was not warranted.

To prove a charge of criminal negligence, the Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person charged showed wanton and reckless disregard for the safety of others and a marked departure in their actions from what someone else would do in a similar situation.

The investigation showed Savoie never firmly attached a cover to the ventilation pipe. It also determined that Savoie witnessed a previous escape attempt by the snake, when it didn't get all the way through the pipe.

Matchim said during the trial that it was that failed escape attempt made Savoie believe there was no need to affix the cover to the pipe, since the snake was too large to fit through it.

A review of the initial investigation by RCMP from Nova Scotia reached the same conclusion as Deveau —  that a charge of criminal negligence was not warranted against Savoie.

A third review by the RCMP's acting commander for southeast New Brunswick, Insp. Gerard Belliveau, also agreed that Savoie should not be charged with criminal negligence causing death.

'It just defies logic'

Documents and emails obtained by CBC News under the federal Access to Information Act show that the RCMP commissioner asked for a personal briefing on the case in February 2014.

The day after Paulson was briefed on why charges were not warranted, the initial investigator was informed the file was being forwarded to the Crown, which in New Brunswick ultimately decides on charging a person with a crime.

"It just defies logic," Matchim said Monday.

"When you have a qualified, experienced major crime unit investigator put in months of investigation and together with his team conclude that charges are not warranted, you would think that would carry the day," he said.

It seems to confirm that their ... decision to lay charges was to appease political concerns as opposed to following their investigative leads.- Leslie Matchim, lawyer for Jean-Claude Savoie

"Throughout the entire process, it was all consistent at the investigative and review level that no charges are warranted," said Matchim. "Yet we learn that the commissioner sought a briefing and within 24 hours we know the RCMP changed their mind and decided to move forward with charges.

"It seems to confirm that their ... decision to lay charges was to appease political concerns as opposed to following their investigative leads."

Financial, emotional costs

Matchim said the decision to pursue a charge did not come without a financial and emotional toll on Savoie, a cost to the taxpayers for a jury trial, and a cost to the family of the Bathe brothers, who had to relive the tragedy through Savoie's trial last fall.

"It cost him money and it cost a lot more than that, a toll," said Matchim. "It put a family of the victims through a trial, where it appeared, at the evidentiary level, there was not a reasonable prospect of success.

"And it put the state to tremendous expense to host a jury trial."

"All of the effort that went into the investigation, months' worth, and two reviews — all of it was negated. I mean, it was for what?"

CBC asked Paulson's office on Monday for a response to Matchim's concerns but there was no reply.

• Jean-Claude Savoie found not guilty in python deaths of 2 boys
• RCMP's handing of python case challenged by Jean-Claude Savoie's lawyer

Matchim said it is "a little premature" for him to comment on whether Savoie might file a lawsuit in connection with how his case was handled.

"We're looking at that issue, but I'm not in a position to make any further comment at present," he said.