Hearing into police-involved death of Myles Gray adjourned to fall after another delay

From April 29: The public hearing into the death of Myles Gray has hit another scheduling snag, this time because one of the respondent officers has lost his lawyer.

The public hearing into the police-involved death of Myles Gray has been adjourned until the fall to allow one of the respondent officers time to find a new lawyer.

Gray died in August of 2015 after a physical altercation involving seven Vancouver police officers.

An autopsy showed his injuries included a broken eye socket, a crushed voice box and ruptured testicles.

The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner order the hearing in the officers’ conduct after all other pending matters had finished, including a police watchdog investigation and a coroner’s inquest.

The Independent Investigations Office had forwarded a report to Crown counsel for consideration of charges against the officers, but Crown chose not to proceed.

The jury at the coroner’s inquest ruled Gray’s death a homicide.

The OPCC hearing began in January and was originally scheduled to take place over 10 weeks, but has already faced significant delays.

Lawyer steps aside to become a judge

In the latest snafu, Scott Wright, a lawyer representing Const. Nick Thompson, accepted an appointment as a provincial court judge.

When news of Wright’s departure came up on Wednesday, Keven Westell, a lawyer representing Const. Josh Wong, offered to take Thompson on as a client as well.

Adjudicator Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey expressed skepticism about whether that would be the best course of action, but said Westell could bring an application forward on Friday afternoon.

When the hearing reconvened Friday, Westell announced Thompson had considered Arnold-Bailey’s cautionary words and decided it would be in his best interests to retain a different lawyer.

“The person that needed to lead the way on decision making was Const. Thompson, who’s the one without counsel,” Westell told CTV News after the adjournment. “After hearing her comments, he made the decision it sounded unwise to proceed with joint representation.”

In the hearing, Westell suggested that in order to allow Thompson time to do that, and for that lawyer to get up to speed on the evidence, the matter should be adjourned to the fall.

Arnold-Bailey agreed with that assessment.

“Unfortunately, we have been sabotaged by events beyond our control in two instances,” she said.

Second major delay involving lawyer stepping aside

Shortly after it began in January, the hearing adjourned for several weeks after a vulgar comment was caught on a hot mic and broadcast on a public livestream of the hearing.

Hearing lawyer Brad Hickford, who acted in a prosecutorial role, stepped down as a result of that incident.

He was replaced by Brock Martland, who needed time to acquaint himself with the witnesses and the evidence.

This second major delay in the case has further upset some members of the Gray family, who have been waiting nearly 11 years for this process to play out.

“I feel like I have been gut-punched,” Gray’s sister Melissa Gray told CTV News about the adjournment.

Re-scheduling poses potential challenges

There are 11 different lawyers involved in the hearing, many of whom also have other matters before various other courts.

With several days of testimony, evidence and arguments remaining to be heard, finding new dates to continue the hearing poses a potential challenge.

Dates in September, October, November and December are being considered.

Arnold-Bailey said she would not be available until September 21, at the earliest.

“Anything after that, I will make myself available … as long as I don’t die of old age,” she wryly told the hearing.

The lawyers and Arnold-Bailey have scheduled a case management meeting for Friday, May 8, to discuss Thompson’s search for new counsel and possible dates to continue the hearing.