“To call our system a justice system is not true:” Culver’s family reacts to stayed charges

“When you have RCMP members stepping in and doing atrocious acts such as this, how could they call that justice? How could we call this country a free and just country when a man goes down riding his bike in the dark in this city and ends up dead,” added Hereditary Chief Na’moks of Wet’suwet’en Nation.

After analyzing forensic data files, the crown said it couldn’t be proven that the RCMP altercation caused Culver’s death. While one forensic pathologist reported that the incident with police resulted in brain injury, the crown also got a second report from what it called Canada’s top forensic pathologist, which disagreed with the original. The second report said Culver’s death was caused by a heart attack due to the acute and chronic effects of methamphetamine use, and while the physical altercation exacerbated Culver’s ensuing heart attack, the crown ruled it could not be proven that the officers dealt any fatal injuries or directly caused Culver’s death.

“When we hear that a pathologist report is no longer credible in this court system, there’s something very flawed about our judicial system,” said Debbie Pierre, Culver’s cousin.

“There is no doubt in my mind that it is still those RCMP’s fault that he is dead, because without that given interaction that night, he would still be here today,” added Speed-Namox.

Chris Voller, a Director with the National Police Federation, says he and the Federation are happy they can close the book on what he says has been an incredibly long and challenging period in the lives of Constables Paul Ste. Marie and Jean Francois Monette.

“This exoneration comes too late. And the court of public opinion is relentless. It’s treated them as if they were guilty. And today, there were over 100 individuals protesting the charges being staged, even in the face of now clear medical evidence that they were not responsible for Mr. Culver’s death,” said Voller.

Following the court proceedings, Ravi Hira, King’s Counsel and Counsel for Cst. Paul Ste. Marie, spoke with media and offered this statement:

“We trust the system. In this case, components of the system got it wrong. There was no homicide here. Because components of the system, the pathologists, got it wrong, the families have for seven years believed that the police were involved in the death of Mr. Culver. These two police officers, for seven years, they’ve had their lives on hold, facing this charge of manslaughter. The public has been put into this invidious position. The court’s and the time has been occupied, setting up dates and getting ready for this matter. What has happened here is tragic, but one wouldn’t have thought that a component of the system would have got this that wrong. As the Crown said, there were no fatal injuries caused by the police, and that’s the end of it,” Hira said.

While the court and Crown stayed the proceedings in the manslaughter charges, saying there is not enough evidence to concretely link Culver’s death to RCMP action, Culver’s family and many community members don’t believe the courts acted justly.

“We need to start looking at the justice system right now because what they’re saying is that it did not meet the threshold of the judicial system. However, we know, we’ve witnessed through social media all of what took place. How many Indigenous people, how many people in British Columbia have been injured or killed by RCMP? And no changes, no accountability, no transparency. This has to stop for everybody,” said Pierre.

“For those lawyers to stand there and defend themselves and the RCMP is beyond injustice and absolutely blasphemy,” said Speed-Namox.

“For those lawyers to say that it’s hard for the families and for the RCMP to have to put their lives on hold for these past seven years to deal with this case is not okay. Imagine having your life have to come to a stop for anything to happen. And still nothing happened seven years later,” Speed-Namox added.

The judge explained the ruling to the court room, saying he knew this would not be the popular decision and he knew that Culver’s family and several community members wanted to see someone held accountable. However, the judge said he can’t take community opinion and emotion into account during the judicial process, and added even though some may want to see someone held accountable, the judge can’t just lay charges to satisfy this desire. He added the charge approval standard is set very high to avoid a situation where an innocent person may be found guilty, and Dale Culver’s case did not meet that standard. Following the court proceedings, several community members shouted towards the judge and lawyers, with quotes such as:

“I’ve served this country for 21 years. Do better,” said an Indigenous military veteran.
“Truth has its own demands of justice.”
“Natural Justice will come.”
“How do you sleep at night knowing you killed someone’s child.”

While the trial for the manslaughter charges has come to a close, Culver’s family and many others close to the situation say they will continue to advocate and fight on Culver’s behalf, as they believe justice has not been served and are looking into other options, such as an appeal and/or an independent inquiry.

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by Tommy Osborne

“To call our system a justice system is not true:” Culver’s family reacts to stayed charges

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