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
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests about relationship with Prince Harry
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Boy Scouts of America is rebranding. Here's why they're now named Scouting America
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Rape, terror and death at sea: How a boat carrying Rohingya children, women and men capsized
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
'A huge difference': These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
How Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap beef escalated within weeks
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Trudeau's handling of Poilievre's 'wacko' House turfing a clear sign of Liberal desperation
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca