Attorneys allege law enforcement officer engaged in witness tampering and intimidation against detective investigating COVID vaccine and child deaths
The lawyers for Constable Helen Grus, an Ottawa Police Service (OPS) detective accused of discreditable conduct after investigating the vaccination status of the mothers of deceased infants, accused the head of the service’s Professional Standards Unit of intimidating Ms. Grus by emailing her directions not to use OPS internal documents for her defense.
“That’s witness tampering, that is intimidation, that is obstruction. This tribunal should be outraged. I am trying to pull back from exceeding anger from this,” lawyer Blair Ector said during a police disciplinary hearing in Stittsville, Ont., on Jan. 10.
“That is beyond unconscionable and we‘d like to call him as a witness and I’d like to cross-examine him as a hostile witness.”
On Jan. 30, 2022, Ms. Grus also allegedly contacted the father of a deceased infant to inquire into the COVID-19 vaccination status of his wife, without the knowledge of the lead detective on that case. While Ms. Grus was suspended without pay in February 2022, she was ordered to return to work with restrictions at an OPS internal hearing in October 2022.
Ms. Grus’s lawyers have argued that the prosecution has failed to prove any of the elements of the three charges on Ms. Grus’s accusation sheet—which include having self-initiated an unauthorized project, failing to record her involvement or findings in a file, and interfering in another ongoing investigation. They have asked for her disciplinary hearing case to be dismissed.
‘Terrifying’ for Police Officers Defending Against Misconduct Allegations
Prosecution lawyer Vanessa Stewart said that the defense counsel had been repeatedly “put on notice” that the OPS would not allow their internal documents to be “handed out inappropriately” and put into the public record. Ms. Stewart added that she told the defense counsel in the fall of 2023 that they would need to put forth a disclosure request for the OPS documents.
“They’re trying to circumvent the procedures to get all these documents into the record without even putting someone on the stand, even in light of what I’ve said on Monday that my client doesn’t consent to all of these documents being released,” Ms. Stewart said. “I find that to be very problematic.”
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Defence lawyer Bath-Sheba van den Berg responded that the OPS had no written policy stating they needed to ask the prosecutor for permission to access OPS documents for Ms. Grus’s defense. “This is not a disclosure request,” she said. “We have to ask the Crown, the prosecutor for permission for the defense?”
“That is not democracy. That is not the rule of law. That is terrifying for police officers who have to answer to these allegations of misconduct,” said Ms. van den Berg.
Hearing officer Chris Renwick said he was concerned that allowing Ms. Grus to use OPS documents would amount to “carte blanch to access and submit any and all OPS records, documents, policies, orders, and anything else for the purpose of the defence.” Mr. Renwick also said it would be “erroneous” to not allow Ms. Grus to use OPS documents because it would “significantly hamper the defense.”
Mr. Renwick also said he had not yet read Ms. Grus’s affidavit and therefore did not know what parts of the OPS documents were present in it. He adjourned the hearing and said he would make a decision the following morning. Mr. Renwick also said he would provide a decision on whether Mr. O’Toole would be called to testify the following day.
