Further Memory Loss Plagues Investigation into the Talman Inquiry

For the second day in a row, a police officer in the Taman inquiry (Winnipeg, MB) is having difficulty recalling events preceding the officer-involved fatal traffic accident in 2005. Thursday's focus was on alcohol consumption by the officer involved.

Sgt. Sean Black took the stand on Thursday, July 18th to answer questions regarding a party that he had hosted at his home on the night of the car crash in 2005. One of the off-duty officers that attended this celebration was Harvey-Zenk, who later that evening rear-ended a car driven by Crystal Taman; she died as a result of her injuries. The ongoing inquiry into the mismanagement of the initial crash investigation is now concentrating on alcohol consumption on that fateful night. According to CBC reports, Black had difficulty recalling specifics of the night in question. He testified, "I remember being very fixated on trying to get the popcorn maker going." Later answers revealed that he had poor recall for much of the evening.

Black did recall that he put a 750-millilitre bottle of whisky and some Bailey's liqueur on the table, and that the next morning when he was cleaning up, the whisky bottle was empty and some of the Bailey's was gone.

He also testified that when the officers left Branigan's for his house, only one seemed too intoxicated to drive, and it wasn't Harvey-Zenk.

The judge instructed Black to draft and provide a complete measured diagram of his kitchen and living space for the court when he returns to the stand on Monday. Prosecutors hope to use this to establish the possible officer placement and likely scenarios for drink consumption during this party. On Wednesday, another witness recalled events that were in direct opposition to Black's. This witness, who was a bar waitress at the time, recalled that several of these officers had consumed excessive amounts of alcohol on that evening. She identified on of those patrons as Harvey-Zenk, telling the court that he possibly had eight, or more, beer during his time in the bar. It's clear that the inquiry is moving from determining specific misconduct with regards to Harvey-Zenk towards holding his superiors, at the time, to account for their subsequent actions.