Reporter takes stand in own defence
John McFadden accused of obstructing RCMP officer during investigation last summer
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, September 2, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Yellowknifer reporter accused of obstructing a police officer last summer testified in his own defence during the continuation of the trial yesterday, where he denied the allegations.
Defence lawyer Peter Harte, left, speaks as reporter John McFadden listens outside the courthouse yesterday afternoon where he's being tried on a charge of obstructing a police officer. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
John McFadden, 53, was arrested on July 5 of last year and charged after RCMP alleged he got too close to a van four police officers were searching outside Shoppers Drug Mart on 49 Street shortly before 1 a.m. McFadden was the crime reporter for the newspaper at the time and testified he left the Black Knight, where he had some drinks, to take photos of the police activity.
The trial began before Judge Garth Malakoe on June 22, where testimony was heard from three RCMP officers. The case was adjourned until yesterday after the first day.
Officers previously had testified McFadden was loud, had been drinking and came too close to the van which officers were examining to find ownership information. RCMP Const. Kevin Sales had said the accused had leaned into the van, while Const. Christopher Watson said he burst their operational "bubble."
"Were you ever leaning into the van?" McFadden was asked yesterday by defence lawyer Peter Harte.
"No," McFadden said, later saying the closest he came to the vehicle while taking photos was about three feet.
At least one officer testified in June he felt unsafe because the reporter was yelling and causing a crowd to "chirp" at the police officers. McFadden said he never heard people castigating officers.
Earlier, Harte questioned Sales about what officers described as a crowd of 20 or so people who gathered because of McFadden's actions and the police activity.
The photos McFadden took that night, entered as evidence, show only a handful of people.
Under cross examination by Harte, Sales suggested the crowd was in a parking area between Shoppers and the Elks Club and therefore didn't appear in McFadden's photos, taken over a period of three-and-a-half minutes before his arrest.
"It's hard to tell if there's more people there that the photograph didn't capture," Sales said.
"I never saw 15 to 20 people," McFadden testified.
Officers testified McFadden yelled he had a right to be in the area taking photos. They told him to take his photos from the sidewalk.
McFadden said after getting those instructions, he stuck to the sidewalk to take photos.
While the officers' testimony largely lined up on aspects of the case, there were differences that emerged, including how many officers were there, how many police vehicles were there, the size of McFadden's camera (one officer called the point-and-shoot camera an "industrial" type camera with a "four-to six inch" lens on it), and the timeline of events.
Sales admitted he searched McFadden's camera and copied a photo from it without a warrant.
The arrest came after a period of increasing tension between the force and the reporter.
McFadden had been banned from attending an RCMP news conference in April last year because of what an RCMP spokesperson at the time described as his "disrespectful tone" when reporting on police.
Another spokesperson for the force suggested in an e-mail obtained by another media outlet through an access-to-information request that police simply cut off communication with the newspaper.
McFadden has been assigned to report on other topics pending the outcome of the case.
McFadden is set to be cross examined by Crown prosecutor Annie Piche today when the case resumes at 10 a.m.
