Defence lawyers for Nicholas Bellemare, the man charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien, began their closing arguments Thursday. The Crown alleges Bellemare was part of a drug trafficking network and was guarding a stash house in a Coquitlam highrise that was the target of a police raid on Sept. 22, 2023. Prosecutors say he intended to kill O’Brien and knew he was a police officer. In summarizing its evidence, the Crown alleged Bellemare fired 10 shots from a high-powered assault rifle and that three bullets, or bullet fragments, struck O’Brien in the face and head. However, one of Bellemare’s lawyers, Tony Paisana, painted a different picture, saying officers failed to properly announce their presence and that his client was acting in self-defence. “He was confronted by a group of armed intruders who he did not understand were police,” said Paisana. In previous testimony, surviving RCMP officers described pounding on the door and announcing themselves as police before using a battering ram to force entry into the unit. However, Paisana said some of the officers, especially team leader Const. Amber Carlson, were unreliable witnesses. Carlson previously testified that she knocked four times and yelled “police” loudly enough that neighbours also would have heard it before signalling to one of the other officers to knock the door down. Paisana pointed out that other officers testified they recalled only one or two knocks, while neighbours who took the stand did not say they heard officers yell “police.” The court heard Bellemare denied hearing police identify themselves shortly after he was arrested that day. Paisana called Carlson a “dangerous” witness who was not being fully truthful, adding that she was combative and argumentative while testifying and that she called cross-examination a “game.” Carlson and one other officer were also injured during the shootout. The defence is expected to continue closing arguments Friday.
