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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday August 22, 2008 - 5 Crown expert witness describes trance-like senior as passive resistor Continued from page 4 "His eyes looked blank to me. I don't believe he recognized us as police officers," said Repta, who noted that throughout this period the officers were yelling at Morgan to put the knives down. Eventually Repta, said he heard Kohler call for the ARWEN (Anti Riot Weapon Enfield), which fired a rubber bullet, hitting Morgan in the arm and causing him to drop one of the knives. Repta was surprised Morgan was able to do this given the punch the ARWEN pacts. "He still had this blank look on his face," said Repta. "He said nothing." Seconds later, after Kohler again called for Morgan to put the remaining knife down, Repta said he heard Kohler call for the Taser. Repta said the Taser hit Morgan and began its five-second cycle of electrocution causing Morgan to fall to the ground where the officers apprehended him. Repta noted Morgan had blood coming from a wound he believed came from Morgan falling on his knife. It was later determined the blood was from the wound caused by the rubber bullet. Morgan was taken to hospital where he was treated for his injured arm and released. He was readmitted to hospital shortly thereafter where he died on May 4, 2007. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which investigates incidents of injury or death where police are involved, found no evidence to link Morgan's death to the Nov. 25 incident, but did find sufficient grounds to charge Kohler, Dodds and Davis with numerous assault charges. Leitch eventually crossexamined his own witness citing inconsistencies in Repta's story. Leitch said that in Repta's notes and in an interview given to the SIU, Repta did not mention Morgan swinging the knives in front of him, but rather describes him as banging the knives together at times. Leitch said Repta's testimony that Morgan had the potential to injury himself because of the way he was swinging the knives, also does not appear on the officer's notepad or in the transcript of the SIU's interview. "The swinging of the knives puts you in a position where you were ready to shoot him if he moved towards you," said Leitch. "Is that not something that should have been in your notes?" Repta noted a passage in his notes does exist where he describes Morgan as slashing the knives back and forth. William MacKenzie, Kohler's lawyer, said that Repta's response was different in court because Leitch had asked him to describe Morgan's movements, whereas the SIU investigator never did. He also said that an officer's notebook is only ment to refresh an officer's memory of an event and is not intended to itemize every detail. Leitch continued to press Repta asking if fear of prosecu- tion or loyalty to the other officers had shaped his testimony. Repta denied this. After Repta's testimony, the Crown called Lino Couto to provide expert testimony in police use of force tactics. Couto, who spend 17 years as a Toronto police officer including six in the Toronto Emergency Task force and who currently teaches at the Ontario Police College, stated the officers' use of force was inconsistent with the situation. Couto classified Morgan as a passive resister who should not have been apprehended through the use of the ARWEN and the Taser. "He had knives in his hands, but he was not using them as weapons at the time," said Couto. In cross-examination the defence challenged Morgan's classification as a passive resister given that he was European Engineering Combined With Traditional Workmanship "Building on the Brightest Ideas Around Glass" 905.849.0266 Out-of-Town Service & ort p Air OAKVILLE UNITED TAXI Thank you Oakville for Selecting us #1! Y OUNGS AUTOMOTIVE LTD. ' EXPERIENCED DRIVERS YOU CAN DEPEND ON · · · · · Airport Flat Rates Out-of-Town Service Regular In-Town Service 10% Discount On Parcel Service GPS Computerized Dispatch · · · · · Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles Corporate Accounts Welcome Airport Customer Wake-Up Service 10% Senior Discount - In Town More Than 60 Taxis In Our Fleet BACK TO SCHOOL AND WORK DAYS 1997 Firebird LTI Corvette Engine 55,000 kms Collector 24 hour · 7 days a week $ 10,990 905.338.0044 PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESS If you are interested in joining our team, please call 905-338-1762 297 Speers Road, Oakville (N.E. corner of Dorval & Speers) www.youngsauto.ca 905-827-7477