Yellowknife (Apr 24/06) - The aunt of a Fort Smith man knocked unconscious by a Yellowknife RCMP officer during a 2004 arrest says there are two standards of justice, one from police constables and one for everyone else.

The formal decision not to charge Const. Scot Newberry came April 19 from Supt. Rick Roy, RCMP criminal operations officer for the Northwest Territories.

If you do something, hide out for 18 months and nobody will probably be able to convict you. - Denise Yuhas, family spokesman

"As the officer with the ultimate responsibility for this decision, I have to be convinced that Const. Newberry recognized that his behaviour in this instance was not professional and was inappropriate, that the consequences of this incident were appropriate and productive and the officer has learned and improved as a result of this lesson and that the situation is not likely to occur again," Roy said.

Herback's aunt, Fort Smith resident Denise Yuhas who has acted as spokesperson for the family, said police seem to get special treatment.

"They were prepared to go with restorative justice two months ago, now they're prepared not to have any justice," Yuhas said. "If you do something, hide out for 18 months and nobody will probably be able to convict you."

On Oct. 30, 2004, Newberry punched Fort Smith resident Devon Herback during an arrest outside a Yellowknife bar, knocking him unconscious. Herback suffered a broken leg, although it's not clear whether that occurred when he fell to the ground or tried to kick out the window of the police cruiser.

Since last spring, there was a lengthy police investigation followed by three legal reviews. An attempt to resolve the matter through restorative justice fell apart in February.

The latest legal review, by the Alberta Attorney General's department said an assault charge had little chance of succeeding.

The legal opinion said that charges should not be laid because there is a reasonable doubt about what happened during the arrest and that Newberry could successfully challenge the charge by citing abuse of process. That would include the length of time plus the fact Newberry was promised no criminal charge would be laid if he agreed to restorative justice.

As a result of the case, Roy said Newberry was reprimanded and ordered to undergo counselling and training on grounds for arrest, appropriate use of force and presentation of evidence in court.

"In the end, I have confidence that Const. Newberry is a professional police officer and having gone through this experience, he is certainly a better police officer," said Roy.

Newberry has been back on regular duties since February.

He still faces an investigation into the incident by Yellowknife detachment commander Insp. Roch Fortin, who's looking into a complaint Herback filed at the Fort Smith RCMP detachment several weeks ago.