Trial begins for Saskatoon police officer accused of obstructing justice

Cst. Tyler Melnychuk confirmed that he received the statement from Johnson and testified that he called Nelson as soon as he read it. In the conversation, Nelson tells Melnychuk to rip up the statement because he already told Johnson that charges had been laid, and that she would have to take it up with the Crown. He also mentioned that Johnson had a bloody nose and scratches on her face when he took her initial statement at the scene.

Even though Melnychuk agreed to rip up the statement during the phone call, he testified that he only said it to end the conversation.

“I had no intentions of ripping the statement up, especially at the request of another officer,” he told the court.

Instead, Melnychuk said he kept Johnson’s statement and gave it to Nelson in person. But according to the Crown, Nelson claims there is no record of a second police statement ever being received.

The domestic assault case still went to trial in January 2013. Sheryl Fillo was the Crown prosecutor; she testified that she did not know about the second police statement until Johnson revealed it while testifying at the trial.

She said she asked Nelson to locate the statement on two different occasions, and that both times he responded that he could not find it. Fillo told the court that Nelson never said the statement did not exist. Charges against Johnson’s boyfriend were later stayed.

An officer with the internal investigations division, Sgt. Reena Arnst, explained how statements are usually either set in a basket to be scanned or brought to the central records department in person. During cross-examination, she agreed with the defence that a lot of paperwork is generated by the Saskatoon Police Service, and that there are many opportunities for a document to go missing.

In his opening statement, defence lawyer Brad Mitchell said the case comes down to human error versus specific intent, and that the Crown will have difficulty proving the latter.

The Crown closed its case Tuesday afternoon. The defence did not say whether or not he would be calling evidence when the trial resumes Wednesday morning.

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow

by Bre McAdam

Trial begins for Saskatoon police officer accused of obstructing justice

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