Witness tells obstruction of justice trial Joe Smyth was 'very angry and I could see his gun'
RNC officer has been suspended without pay since July for his alleged handling of a traffic stop
The trial for Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer Joe Smyth — accused of obstructing justice during a traffic stop — got underway Monday, with a motorcycle driver criticizing Smyth as "rude and unprofessional" during the May 2017 incident.
Sayed Husaini, who lives in St. John's, testified in a St. John's courtroom that Smyth pulled him over and said that, a month earlier, someone had evaded police on the motorcycle that Husaini was driving.
"[Smyth] said, 'Park, because we are going to have a long conversation,'" Husaini recalled.
"He was very angry and I could see his gun."
“He leaned over me he was very close.” Says witness of Smyth. In court now Smyth’s Lawyer Jerome Kennedy is taking issue with the way the witness is looking at Smyth. Judge asks witness to look at him and lawyers
—@CBCMarkQuinnSmyth was the subject of a judicial inquiry called over how he fatally shot injured worker Don Dunphy in 2015 in Mitchells Brook.
Husaini told the court Smyth said he was going to give him "every ticket possible."
Smyth issued four tickets to Husaini during the May 12, 2017, incident: running a red light, passing between cars, illegal lane change and driving with a defective tire.
Husaini testified that he had a GoPro camera on his motorcycle and that when he reviewed the footage, he didn't run a red light. He then decided to fight the tickets.
Ultimately, the tickets against Husaini were dropped.
The Crown is now pursuing a charge of obstruction of justice against Smyth.
The GoPro video footage was played in court on Monday, and shows the traffic light was green when Husaini drove through it.
Smyth's lawyer, Jerome Kennedy, said Smyth, after seeing the video, doesn't dispute that the light was green and that he made a mistake in issuing the tickets.
The trial is expected to take three days.
Witness, defence lawyer spar
When it came time for Kennedy to cross-examine the witness, Husaini became argumentative during certain questions.
Kennedy asked about any past traffic offences or whether Husaini had a criminal record and where he previously lived — stating these were basic questions at a criminal trial — but Husaini insisted those details weren't relevant.
"The witness is dictating what questions he can ask," said Kennedy at one point. "I've never seen this in 30 years of practice."
Kennedy tried to establish a pattern of speeding and possible dangerous driving by Husaini, but the Crown objected, arguing it wasn't relevant to the obstruction of justice charge Smyth is facing.
Judge Mike Madden said he would determine the relevance of the questions, and which ones Husaini would be required to answer.
Husaini said he did drive his motorcycle home after the incident even thought Smyth had just given him a ticket for a defective tire and told him not to drive the bike home.
Smyth suspended without pay
Commissioner Leo Barry, who oversaw the judicial inquiry into Dunphy's death, concluded that Smyth "demonstrated certain errors of judgment and noncompliance with aspects of his training but responded with appropriate force when Mr. Dunphy with no warning threatened him with a rifle."
When the obstruction of justice charge was laid in July, RNC Chief Joe Boland announced Smyth was suspended without pay until further notice.
"I want to assure the public that misconduct by any RNC police officer is not acceptable and will not be tolerated within this police service," said Boland at the time.
It was the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) that investigated the traffic stop — after Boland requested an outside agency be called in — which resulted in a person being ticketed "for an offence that did not occur," according to a previously issued statement by ASIRT.
In July, Kennedy, said, "I believe that the evidence that ASIRT has uncovered does not, or will not, support the charge that's been laid."
"The residual effect of the inquiry [into the death of Don Dunphy] and I believe that the fact of who he is certainly plays into what's going on here," he added.
With files from Stephanie Kinsella and Mark Quinn