John Parr is still hopeful for justice almost a year after his 17-year-old boy died on a rural Cape Breton road.
The New Waterford resident has not wavered in his belief that Cape Breton Regional Police officers could have prevented his son’s death in the early hours of June 10 and that they failed to conduct a proper investigation into the tragedy.
Parr’s feeling more hopeful than he has in months that justice will be served in his son Joneil Hanna’s case. He was informed last week that the case will be examined before the Nova Scotia Police Review Board in a public hearing in Sydney. The news arrived in a letter from the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner, authored by Commissioner Judith McPhee who made the decision.
Out of 197 complaints submitted to the office last year only two cases made it before the seven-member review board.
“I’m feeling a lot of different emotions,” said Parr. “I’m relieved, excited and I’m also scared.”
The public hearing, which has yet to be scheduled, is the final stage in the public police complaint process. Parr filed his complaint against the CBRP to the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner last September, three months after Hanna’s death.
Hanna had been attending a raucous, drinking-fuelled grad party at a residence in Leitches Creek that was supervised by CBRP officers. Shortly after Hanna left on foot he was struck and killed by a vehicle driven by a young man who attended the same party. The driver was given permission to leave the premises by officers at the party. He was never subjected to a breath test after the crash.
“I still want to know the real reason why the party wasn’t shut down and why the driver wasn’t given a breathalyzer test because it’s obvious that the police are trying to cover up their mistake that night. My son deserves justice.”
The first review in the complaints process was conducted by Halifax Regional Police officers who cleared the Cape Breton Regional Police of any wrongdoing. But questions were raised about the impartiality of the review since the investigators were selected by CBRP chief Peter McIsaac. Parr was also not provided their report, only a summary of the investigation authored by McIsaac.
Parr appealed, resulting in McPhee’s decision to refer the matter to the police review board. McPhee had the option to dismiss Parr’s appeal but instead opted for further review. The commissioner’s office would not explain her reasoning behind the decision.
Wayne MacKay, a Dalhousie University law professor, has been critical of the lack of transparency in the complaints process and says the public hearing is warranted. MacKay figures McPhee could have been unsatisfied with the review conducted by Halifax police or felt the case needed another independent examination to satisfy lingering public concerns about the case.
“By having the review board look at this one more time, it might clarify those issues which would be a better way in reinforcing public confidence in the policing system,” said MacKay.
“I don’t expect that the board will have new issues, but I would hope that they would address the existing issues that have been identified but in a thoughtful and thorough way that makes one understand why the police investigators reached the conclusions that they reached,” said MacKay.
Like Parr, MacKay says he remains unconvinced the Cape Breton officers that attended the grad party and were involved in the investigation conducted themselves appropriately.
“I’m most interested in the critical questions about why were people allowed to leave the scene of the crash? Why was the breathalyzer not given to the young man? Those questions have been identified but it would be my hope that the review board will return to those same questions but perhaps provide more detailed answers as to what their conclusion is as to whether there was any problematic behaviour or if everything was handled well.”
Jean McKenna, a former lawyer and teacher, chairs the police review board and Simon MacDonald, a retired Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice is vice-chair. The pair ultimately will decide the case and the decision will be made public, said Jeff Garber, spokesman for the police complaints commissioner.
“They will conduct a full hearing and they will start fresh,” said Garber. “They will make a decision as to whether there was misconduct and if the decision is yes, they will make a decision as to what penalty is appropriate.”
A date has not yet been set for the hearing but the parties involved are expected to agree on one soon, said Garber. He said the length of the hearing will depend on its complexity and amount of evidence presented.
Parr is charged with selecting his witnesses to testify at the trial. It’s a daunting task but one he’s committed to.
“I just want the truth to come out and that’s something that Joneil deserves,” said Parr.
