'Red flags should have gone up,' Crown argues at trial for corrections officer charged in inmate's death
Robert Jeffrey Morden charged in 2021 death of Headingley inmate William Ahmo
WARNING: This story contains graphic content.
Lawyers made their closing arguments Wednesday in the trial of corrections officer Robert Jeffrey Morden, who faces charges related to the death of an inmate at the Headingley Correctional Centre two and a half years ago.
"No one is suggesting the accused intended for this to happen," Crown prosecutor Jason A. Nicol said in court. However, he argued, Morden showed a wanton and reckless disregard for William Ahmo's life.
Morden is charged with criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide the necessaries of life. He has pleaded not guilty.
Ahmo, 45, was an inmate at Headingley when he was involved in an altercation with corrections officers on Feb. 7, 2021. He was rushed to hospital in medical distress after the events in a common room of the provincial jail, which is just west of Winnipeg.
Ahmo was taken off life support a week later and died. Manitoba's chief medical examiner ruled Ahmo's death a homicide.
The judge-only trial, being presided over by Judge Tony Cellitti, started earlier this month with court being shown footage of Ahmo's final moments of conciousness.
The nearly 21-minute-long video of the the Feb. 7 incident showed what began as a standoff between Ahmo and corrections officers and ended with him receiving emergency first aid.
In the video, an agitated Ahmo paced in a common area, at one point ripping a water tank off the wall.
Corrections officers shot chemical projectiles at Ahmo as he stood on the second floor of a correctional centre unit, holding a mop handle. Ahmo swung the broom at about a dozen officers, who then took him down.
During his closing arguments, Nicol said Ahmo was "very aggressive. He was belligerent, but it's important to note that he did not hurt anyone."
The video showed the officers moving Ahmo to a second location, referred to as the "horseshoe," while he was still face down on the floor. Nicol said at that point the threat he posed was "substantially mitigated."
WATCH | Video footage shows Ahmo's last minutes in Headingley jail:
Nicol said Ahmo could be heard saying that he was choking, that he was being killed, and repeatedly begging officers for help.
"The evidence was overwhelming that Mr. Ahmo was in great distress," he told the court Wednesday. "After 27 times of saying, 'I can't breathe' … surely, surely the red flags should have gone up."
As those portions of the video were replayed Wednesday, Ahmo's mother and other family members wept in the courtroom.
" 'Can't breathe' are his last words," Nicol told the judge. "The last thing he said of his entire life."
Once Ahmo lost consciousness, he was dragged by officers and placed in a restraint chair, which Nicol said does not follow use of force policy and was not justified.
The video showed an officer pulling Ahmo's limp head back.
"The restraint chair should never have been used in this situation. It was not authorized," Nicol said.
Defence lawyer Richard Wolson disagreed with that take during his closing arguments.
Wolson said Ahmo had been aggressive throughout the confrontation and at one point told officers he didn't intend to go peacefully.
"There is no question that Mr. Ahmo showed violence on that day," Wolson told the judge.
Wolson said the restraint chair was only requested when Ahmo was fighting and resisting and kicking.
He said the team was putting him in the chair to move him to another location where they were going to "decontaminate" him from having been pepper sprayed.
"How are they going to take that person two football fields, which was their task … how are you going to get that person 200 metres away?" he asked. "It was the safest way to transport Mr. Ahmo."
He argued that Morden was in contact with the command centre and if any of the senior officials believed the use of the chair shouldn't have occurred, "You can bet they would have said something."
Wolson also argued that Morden and his team believed Ahmo said he was unable to breathe because he had been sprayed with pepper spray. He said corrections officers are taught in training that that is very common.
He noted that court heard pepper spray was a contributing factor in Ahmo's passing.
"The death of William Ahmo is a terrible and awful tragedy," Wolson said. "But a tragedy does not always equal criminal responsibility."
Nicol argued it's clear that urgent medical intervention was needed, and Morden failed to provide it.
"Mr. Ahmo should not have been forced to ask for help," he said. "[Morden] should have called for medical intervention long before. If you are asking if he is alive, you are asking the most fundamental question about someone's well-being."
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