Results of ‘police error’ review to be public
Ian D. Scott, experienced investigator of police, will examine Fredericton Police Force’s practices and policies that led to gaffe that tanked prosecutions in two murder cases
Fredericton’s police chief says the findings of an independent review of the force’s major crime unit’s procedures will be made public in the wake of a policing error that scuttled prosecutions in two murders.
Charges against five capital-region residents in three prosecutions arising from two separate homicide investigations - one in Fredericton and another in Chipman - were stayed in the Court of King’s Bench on June 27 after the Crown revealed it discovered an “insurmountable evidentiary issue” with both cases.
A joint second-degree murder charge was stayed at the prosecution’s request against Joshua John McIsaac, 35, and Travis James Snowsell, 28, both formerly of Penniac, stemming from the December 2021 shooting death on Fredericton’s north side of Corey Christopher Markey, 41.
Furthermore, two first-degree murder prosecutions - one against McIsaac and and Erica Lea Ann Blyth, 42, of Newcastle Creek near Chipman; and another against Devon Mark Hood, 27, and Matthew David LeBlanc, 31, both of Fredericton - were also stayed at the Crown’s request.
The quartet were all accused of involvement in the Jan. 28, 2022, death of Brandon Patrick Donelan, 27, in the Chipman area, whose body was found two months later.
On the day those charges were all stayed, Fredericton police Chief Gary Forward acknowledged the fault lay with the Fredericton Police Force.
“The reason for the stay of proceedings is the result of an ‘insurmountable evidentiary issue’ linked directly to an error initiated, discovered and subsequently reported to the Crown by the Fredericton Police Force,” the chief said in a statement June 27.
While the Crown and Forward declined to reveal the nature of the “error” that led to the stays, the chief promised there would be a full review of how the city police force’s major crime unit’s operations could have led to such a major legal catastrophe.
To that point, the police force issued a news release Wednesday afternoon, revealing some details about that promised review.
It said it has hired lawyer and investigator Ian D. Scott of Mississauga, Ont., to conduct an independent review of the major crime unit’s practices, policies, and procedures, beginning July 17.
“We take full responsibility and accountability for the circumstances that led to this outcome,” Forward said in Wednesday’s release.
“As part of our acknowledgement and commitment to public trust, we are taking immediate steps to examine the error caused on our part and to prevent a reoccurrence.”
The police force said in the release the review is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.
“The review’s findings will be released to the public apart from information protected by the Canada Evidence Act,” it said.
“Under the Canada Evidence Act public disclosure of the evidentiary issue in question is prohibited on the grounds that such disclosure would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.”
The force touted Scott’s background as a noted investigator of police. He was the director of Ontario’s special investigations unit from 2008 to 2013, heading up investigations into police-involved incidents. He’s also a lawyer with more than four decades of litigation experience.
Furthermore, Scott literally has written books on policing and civilian oversight of police, and he currently works on police-related investigations and on disciplinary prosecutions, as well as providing training for other investigators.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.