'Screen cutter' trial: Police tracked Arsenault's movements before arrest
Brian Higgins | CBC News | Posted: December 9, 2016 7:30 PM | Last Updated: December 9, 2016
Police-dog handler, GPS surveillance technician, forensic expert testify
A police-dog handler, GPS surveillance technician and a forensic expert testified today at the so-called screen cutter trial in Charlottetown.
They described Richard Joseph Arsenault's movements — by foot and by vehicle — in the days leading up to his arrest in Charlottetown Aug. 15.
The 39-year-old has pleaded not guilty in connection with 10 break-ins in and around Charlottetown over the past two years.
The dog handler testified that on Aug. 11, in Cornwall, the police dog tracked a human scent from the area of a break-in scene to where Arsenault's car had been parked earlier that night.
Court has heard an intruder entered two homes in the Cornwall neighbourhood that night.
"The dog locked on the scent right away," testified RCMP Cpl. Marc Periard, referring to his German shepherd partner, Dutch. "So we knew the tracks were fresh."
Arrest on Aug. 15
The Mountie and his dog were also called to action the night of Aug. 15 when police arrested Arsenault in Charlottetown.
Periard and Dutch retraced Arsenault's footsteps immediately following his arrest, the court heard.
They went through the backyards of homes in the neighbourhood where the arrest was made, Periard testified.
A surveillance technician with Charlottetown city police recounted the movements of Arsenault's vehicles leading up to the arrest.
Arsenault's car went from Arsenault's home in Travellers Rest to Moncton, N.B., and back on Aug. 13. His pick-up truck was driven to several communities in eastern P.E.I. on Aug. 14. And police tracked his car through neighbourhoods in Charlottetown the night of his arrest on Aug. 15.
Defence lawyer Yolande Murphy questioned the technician about gaps in his surveillance notes.
Expert compares shoes to footprint impression
Also today, Crown prosecutor Valerie Moore entered as evidence a pair of shoes Arsenault was wearing at the time of his arrest.
RCMP Cpl. Shaun Brown, who collects and analyzes forensic evidence, including footprints, testified that he found a "footwear impression" in the grass at the scene of the Cornwall break-in on Aug. 11.
He used an "electro-static lifter" to lift dust off the footprint, a technique that can reveal details about what type of footwear a suspect was wearing.
He testifies the shoe Arsenault was wearing at the time of his arrest matched his analysis of the footprint at the crime scene, with excessive wear on the outside left heel.
Because the footwear imprint from the crime scene is not perfectly clear, Brown testified he can't say categorically the footprint matches Arsenault's shoes. He describes it as a "possible match."
This case is being heard by provincial court chief judge Nancy Orr.
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