Dean Pritchard, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Winnipeg Sun) – Two RCMP officers accused of beating a man arrested outside a Grand Beach area bar say the alleged victim became belligerent after receiving a lecture about drinking and driving.
Cpl. Jeff Moyse told court he suspected Conley Papineau was intoxicated when he saw him walk to his car in the parking lot of the Birchwood Motor Hotel.
“I told him we were doing him a favour and stopped him from the potential of a charge,” Moyse testified Wednesday. “He wasn’t interested in anything like that. He was mad and angry and confrontational.”
Papineau said “f— you” before intentionally bumping him in the shoulder, Moyse said.
“I pushed him back a couple of feet, told him he was under arrest and to get down,” Moyse said. “When he didn’t comply I grabbed him by his hoodie and we went down to the ground.”
Papineau told court Tuesday he complied with Moyse’s demand to see his identification and was returning to the bar when, without warning, Moyse wrapped an arm around his neck and tackled him to the ground.
Papineau claimed Moyse and Const. Trevor Ens drove him to a hydro station, where Moyse pulled him out of the police cruiser and punched him in the face and stomach.
Moyse and Ens testified no such assault occurred. They told court they drove Papineau directly to the Lac du Bonnet RCMP detachment, where he was held in a cell overnight.
Special prosecutor Ryan Rolston accused Ens of lying about Papineau’s level of sobriety. He said Ens and Moyse described Papineau in a prosecutor’s information sheet as “staggering and wobbling” to his car and “stinking of liquor.”
No such descriptions appeared in notes Ens wrote shortly after the incident, Rolston said.
“I’m going to suggest to you Mr. Papineau wasn’t drunk that night,” Rolston said. “He had a few drinks, but he wasn’t drunk.”
Moyse is slated to return to the witness stand Thursday morning for cross-examination.
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