Halifax police constable defends actions in cell death of man wearing spit hood
A Halifax police constable who helped arrest a man who died of suffocation in a lockup cell says he left a spit hood on the detainee's head because he feared the man would remove it and spit on him.
Const. Justin Murphy testified Wednesday before the Nova Scotia Police Review Board, which is hearing an appeal of the discipline he and constables Ryan Morris and Donna Lee Paris received for their roles in arresting Corey Rogers and leaving him in a cell wearing the hood.
A spit hood is a face covering designed to prevent a person under arrest from spitting on or biting others.
The province's medical examiner has said the 41-year-old man died of suffocation on June 15, 2016, while lying face down in a police station cell with the hood covering his mouth as he appeared to be vomiting.
Murphy testified it's been his experience that after a frustrated or angry detainee's handcuffs are removed, they sometimes tear off their spit hood and spit at officers through the lockup cell bars.
The constable told the panel he's been "been spit on and unfortunately it's quite common," while answering questions posed by Ted Murphy, the lawyer for Halifax Regional Municipality.
The officer said the only occasion during which he has seen officers remove a spit hood was when prisoners were sitting in a special restraint chair and had calmed down. He said he has learned the masks are necessary for self-protection, adding that during one incident, a man he detained in Halifax spewed blood-laced mucus and saliva on him.
"After that, I started to carry the spit hood with me. I didn't want that to happen again," the officer testified during the third day of the hearing at a Halifax hotel.
Rogers was arrested in 2016 outside a Halifax children's hospital in a state of extreme intoxication after he rapidly downed a half-pint of whiskey, following the birth of his child.
Murphy said he saw Rogers banging his head against the Plexiglas divider inside Morris's police cruiser and upon arrival at the police station, he saw mucus on the divider, which he said led him to go inside and pick up a spit hood for Rogers. Paris was in a police vehicle with Murphy as the incident unfolded.
The mask was placed on Rogers before the man was lifted out of the vehicle and carried into the station by three officers.
Video presented at the hearing shows Rogers inside the police station booking area lying on the floor and shouting "No!" when the arresting officers ask him to walk to the cells.
Though Murphy said he had heard that Rogers had rapidly consumed whiskey outside the hospital, he said he had also known that the detainee was an alcoholic with a high tolerance for alcohol, and he said he had believed that Rogers was capable of walking and was refusing to do so.
The constable said many of the detainee's words were slurred and inaudible, but he nonetheless testified that he felt Rogers was being passively resistant.
He told the hearing he wasn't alarmed after he had removed Rogers's handcuffs, had exited the cell and had seen the man lying face down with the spit hood on. Murphy testified he had been confident the cells' special constables, referred to as booking officers, would check on the prisoner's well-being every 15 minutes.
The constable said he had many of years of experience arresting highly intoxicated people, and he had not hesitated to call paramedics if the detainees weren't alert or unable to stand. He repeated several times in testimony, however, that he didn't believe that was the case for Rogers, adding that the prisoner had been "choosing" not to stand.
Murphy said it's possible for intoxication to quickly take a turn for the worse, but he said "at that point, my thinking was (Rogers) was still being passive resistant. He wasn't happy to be there."
During Monday's hearing, a Halifax police audit officer had testified no clear policy existed five years ago regarding when officers should or shouldn't apply spit hoods. However, the package itself has warnings indicating the masks shouldn't be applied if the person is at risk of choking.
The case has been in the headlines for years in Halifax, with Jeannette Rogers, the man's mother, saying police had mishandled her son and they need to drastically improve their treatment of highly intoxicated prisoners.
In January, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ordered a new trial for two special constables at the Halifax lockup, Daniel Fraser and Cheryl Gardner, who were convicted in November 2019 of criminal negligence in Rogers's suffocation death.
The original trial had focused on whether Fraser and Gardner had properly followed policies on the frequency of checking the prisoner.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
B.C. theatre to pay $55K to neurodivergent actor in discrimination case
British Columbia's human rights tribunal has awarded a neurodigergent actor, who was diagnosed with sensory and learning disorders, more than $55,000 after finding that a Kelowna theatre company discriminated against him because of his disabilities.
Who's responsible for regulating cannabis stores operating under the sovereignty banner?
It's not quite clear who is supposed to be regulating so-called sovereign cannabis stores or even ensure they're benefiting Indigenous communities.