New evidence disrupts Canadian Taser inquiry

New evidence has caused a delay into the investigation of the death of a Polish immigrant at the hands of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The delay happened because the government has admitted it failed to disclose potentially damaging evidence. The inquiry is headed by Thomas Braidwood, a retired judge, who called the failed disclosure "appalling" and ordered the inquiry put on hold until Sept. 22, so witnesses can be recalled. Closing arguments had been scheduled for last Friday. Braidwood announced the inquiry will resume on Sept. 22, so the commission lawyers have time to review the email and conduct an investigation. "I am obviously appalled," Braidwood said. A government lawyer said an RCMP email was found that appears to contradict statements made by RCMP officers about the night Robert Dziekanski died at Vancouver International Airport in 2007. Attorney Helen Roberts said she did not receive a copy of the email until April. By that time, the officers involved had already began to testify. Roberts said she did not read the message until this week. The four officers all testified there had been no discussion about using a Taser stun gun on Dziekanski before confronting him, but the email from the RCMP's internal investigation in 2007 indicated that use of the weapon was planned in advance. A lawyer for one of the officers said the email was based on wrong information. Dziekanski died after he was repeatedly jolted by a police stun gun, although the exact cause of his death has never been determined. The controversy, generated by an amateur video of the incident, received international publicity over police use of the electronic weapons and prompted the province of British Columbia to order the inquiry. Police initially said Dziekanski was stunned twice and had to be wrestled to the ground. Evidence presented at the inquiry contradicted the police statement and showed he was actually jolted five times, with some jolts coming after he fell to the ground in pain.