VANCOUVER - When Zofia Cisowski immigrated to Canada she saw the RCMP as the symbol of democracy and trust, but that was destroyed in the years since officers jolted her son with a Taser, a court heard.
“My faith in the honesty of the RCMP has forever been shaken,” said the mother's letter read at the sentencing of RCMP Const. Kwesi Millington on Thursday.
Millington was convicted of perjury for lying during a public inquiry into Robert Dziekanski's death at Vancouver's airport in October 2007.
His defence lawyer opposed allowing Cisowski to read her victim-impact statement into the record.
But B.C. Supreme Court Justice William Ehrcke rejected the argument that Cisowski didn't qualify as a victim because Millington's crime was against the “administration of justice.”
“It is difficult to put into a few or any words how the perjury of Mr. Millington has impacted to me,” Ehrcke read from Cisowski's writing.
“When I came to Canada I saw the RCMP as the main symbol of Canada and what it stood for, a democracy where people could always trust the police,” she wrote.
Crown lawyer Scott Fenton told the hearing that the disgraced Mountie convicted of lying about the high-profile death of Dziekanski should spend up to three years in prison.
Fenton said Millington's punishment should take into account the seriousness of his offence, that his testimony was vital to the inquiry and that his perjury was planned, deliberate and sustained.
“It was not an emotional, immediate, knee-jerk response to a question,” he said. “It continued over three days. The accused had ample time to prepare for the inquiry.”
The Crown argued Millington's position of authority, as well as his apparent lack of remorse, were aggravating factors that demanded a more serious punishment than the conditional sentence expected to be recommended by defence.
“Perjury is something that strikes at the heart or the core of the administration of justice,” Fenton said. “Perjury committed by a police officer is even more serious.”
Millington and Cpl. Benjamin (Monty) Robinson were each convicted of perjury earlier this year. They were among four officers who responded to reports of Dziekanski throwing furniture around the international terminal before he was stunned with a Taser and died.
Constables Gerry Rundel and Bill Bentley were each acquitted of perjury charges, though the Crown is appealing the verdict in Bentley's case.
Perjury carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, and Cisowski said on Thursday she hopes Millington spends time behind bars.
The defence is expected to present its case on Thursday afternoon.
