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CBC
23-05-2025
- CBC
Lawyers make closing arguments in OPP officer's manslaughter case
Social Sharing Did OPP Const. Sean O'Rourke trip and fall into the car of Nicholas Grieves, causing his gun to go off? Or was that all a lie to cover up O'Rourke's alleged carelessness — that he never should have drawn and pointed his gun and allowed his finger to come onto the trigger? Lawyers for both the defence and the Crown presented these competing versions of events on Friday in closing arguments at the conclusion of the seven-day manslaughter trial in the Chatham Superior Court of Justice. Grieves, 24, was shot and killed in July 2021 after stealing $40 of gas from a Dutton gas station. Much of the evidence and testimony in the trial has centred on the 87 seconds between when O'Rourke made the decision to turn on his police vehicle lights to stop the car carrying Grieves and two other people and the moment Grieves was shot. Defence lawyer Sandy Khehra said the physical evidence and the basis for O'Rourke's actions was clear. "We cannot expect our police officers to just back off every time there is a situation," Khehra said, positing that any member of the public would expect O'Rourke to act as he did in that situation. "Officer O'Rourke is not the one that created that situation, he reacted to the situation …. Here we are taking two weeks to dissect those 87 seconds." Khehra also drew on the location of the shell casing from O'Rourke's gun — inside the front passenger foot well of the car — as evidence that O'Rourke had tripped and stumbled to come head and shoulders inside the car in the seconds before the gun went off. He also noted the dirt on O'Rourke's pants as further evidence of the stumble. The closing submissions of Crown attorney Jason Nicol were longer. Nicol argued that it was never reasonable for O'Rourke to have drawn, much less pointed, his firearm, and that the gun could only have gone off as a result of O'Rourke pulling the trigger. During his testimony, O'Rourke said Grieves rammed his police vehicle, an action he described as violent, intentional and something that increased the danger of serious harm or death O'Rourke perceived in the situation. The court had heard that serious bodily harm or death was the criteria for police use of force. But Nicol posited the ramming had never happened, and that instead contact between the two cars was incidental and the damage on O'Rourke's car was not significant enough to have come from such a collision. That suggestion prompted stern words from the judge. He acknowledged the alleged ramming was a significant piece of evidence in the case but that accident reconstruction was not completed by the Special Investigations Unit, the police watchdog that investigated the case, or the OPP. "We have a civilian shot to death in the median by a police officer and we have no accident reconstruction," Justice Bruce Thomas said. "It's ridiculous. I am critical of that." Nicol told the court he believed O'Rourke had exaggerated the risk, ignored the innocent possibilities behind the incident and that "it was not reasonable for him to draw his firearm." Even if the judge found it was reasonable for O'Rourke to have drawn his firearm, Nicol said, there was no reason to point it at Grieves and "that was the accused's greatest overreaction in this incident." Khehra said he disagreed. Nicol also suggested that O'Rourke had not stumbled and instead, that he fired the gun from outside the car, not inside as he had told the court. "I cannot see how you can find a stumble doesn't happen," Khehra said in response. Thomas interjected at points with questions and statements for each of the lawyers. "It means this officer had to react in a very short period of time … the other side of the cutting edge, is did he need to?," Thomas said of the 87 seconds during which the incident unfolded. "That's part of my decision." Court will return on June 24 for the judge's decision in the case.
CBC
21-05-2025
- CBC
Gun could fire even if trigger not pulled, expert says in OPP officer's manslaughter trial
There are ways a hand gun could fire without an officer pulling the trigger: That was the expert testimony of a witness for the defence in the manslaughter trial of OPP Const. Sean O'Rourke on Tuesday. Christopher Butler was qualified as a expert witness with years of experience as a trainer and use of force reviewer with the Calgary Police Service. He has given expert testimony in more than 30 cases. He was called to testify for the defence for O'Rourke, who is on trial in the shooting of 24-year-old Nicholas Grieves, who died after stealing $40 of gas from a Dutton gas station in July 2021. Much of Butler's testimony revolved around police use of force and firearms — including instances where Glock hand guns, like the one O'Rourke had, have gone off without the officer pulling the trigger. Butler told the court it had happened to him, and that subsequent examination showed microscopic cracks in the gun. In another similar instance, a tactical officer with the Calgary Police Service had a Glock hand gun in a holster on his leg when it went off after a slight impact during a high-risk vehicle stop. Those results were able to be replicated, and also showed microscopic defects in the interior of the gun, Butler testified. Butler cited a third example in Winnipeg. These incidents tend to happen in "high mileage" guns that have fired many rounds and have been found, upon further inspection, to have microscopic defects, Butler said. But the defence and Crown questioned Butler about police use of force and his opinion on whether O'Rourke's actions — how he approached the car and the positioning of his weapon as he did so — were appropriate. Butler said he felt O'Rourke's actions were appropriate in the situation, citing research about the risks officers face while doing traffic enforcement work, the lack of compliance by the car's occupants with O'Rourke's instructions and his close proximity to the car. On cross-examination, Crown attorney Jason Nicol pointed to other pieces of testimony, and tried to establish that the gun only would have fired because O'Rourke pulled the trigger — with which Butler disagreed. On Friday, the Crown cross-examined O'Rourke, suggesting the theory that he tripped and fell into the suspect vehicle carrying Grieves and two others was a lie to cover up his own "carelessness."
CBC
17-05-2025
- CBC
Crown suggests officer's stumble explanation in fatal shooting is a 'fabrication'
A Crown attorney accused an OPP officer facing a manslaughter charge of making up his version of what happened in the seconds before his gun fired nearly four years ago, fatally wounding a man. Const. Sean O'Rourke denied the allegation in court on Friday. He has been on trial this week in the shooting of 24-year-old Nicholas Grieves. On Thursday, he told the court that in the early hours of July 7, 2021, he tripped and fell into the front passenger window of the car carrying Grieves and two others, after they had stolen $40 worth of gas from a Dutton, Ont., gas station. O'Rourke has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge. Grieves was a member of Six Nations of the Grand River but had been staying in Windsor. O'Rourke had previously told the court, and testified again on Friday, that he and another officer attempted to perform a tandem stop of the car on Highway 401 when Grieves, driving the car, rammed his vehicle. That caused the car to spin out of control and land in a ditch. That was when O'Rourke approached the car. He said that he had his gun drawn and on uneven ground he tripped, stumbled and landed head and shoulders in the car, with his gun inches from Grieves in the front seat. "I was in a panic to get out," O'Rourke said Friday. He said he feared for his safety because of the car's "violent" impact with his cruiser, and led him to approach the car with his gun drawn. He also spoke to a "crazed" look in Grieves's eyes, as well as his continual rummaging in the front console of the car — O'Rourke said, he believed, for a weapon. Then, he says, the gun went off — and he's not sure how. O'Rourke testified that his fingers remained on the slide of the gun. "I will suggest your stumble theory is a fabrication," said Crown attorney Jason Nicol on Friday. "You're fabricating that stumble theory to cover up your own carelessness at pointing that gun at the occupants of the car." It was a theory that O'Rourke categorically denied. Nicol also established that O'Rourke did not take the time — approximately, O'Rourke said, 20 seconds — to fix a broken radio before responding to the theft for gas call, nor did he call for backup beyond the second officer on scene despite his stated fear for his safety — and that he hadn't communicated with that second officer since they spotted the car suspected in the gas theft. "How could such a highly trained officer as yourself, how could you not have control of your trigger finger at all times," Nicol asked. O'Rourke replied that he had control of his fingers on the way into the car, but didn't know as he made his way out of the car. The court has previously heard from other OPP officers, including Sgt. Bradley Cooke who responded to the call with O'Rourke, and a firearm expert who had examined O'Rourke's gun and found it to be in good working order.
CBC
16-05-2025
- CBC
OPP officer accused of manslaughter says he tripped, fell into suspect car
Const. Sean O'Rourke on Thursday testified that he tripped and fell into the car Nicholas Grieves was driving shortly before Grieves' death — and that he doesn't know how the gun he was carrying went off. O'Rourke is on trial this week for manslaughter in a judge-alone trial in Chatham Superior court. He has pleaded not guilty. Grieves, 24, was living in Windsor at the time of his death and was a member of Six Nations of the Grand River. On July 7, 2021, the OPP responded to a call about a gasoline theft at a gas station along Highway 401 in Dutton, Ont. Officers located the vehicle, believed to be travelling westbound, and followed it. "A theft fuel call is almost all the times coupled with more serious criminal activities," O'Rourke told the court as the rationale for making the pursuit. O'Rourke said the car's "continuous weaving" made him believe the driver was impaired, fatigued or texting while driving. O'Rourke said he and another officer, Sgt. Bradley Cooke — who testified Tuesday — agreed to perform a tandem stop, in which a vehicle is boxed in to stop it. But O'Rourke said Grieves kept accelerating. "The operator of the vehicle came over into my lane and rammed the front of my trooper," he said. "It was shocking. It astonished me … I never had anyone ram my police vehicle let alone at 100 kilometres [an hour] … it was very violent, unexpected and intentional." 'Neither the passenger nor the driver were obeying commands' O'Rourke said after the impact, he saw Grieves' car spin and land in the ditch. "It conducted a full 360 [degree] turn," he said, adding that the vehicle's passenger side tires lifted off the ground several inches. O'Rourke said he then could see the driver in his rear view mirror and understood there was a front passenger, too. "I could directly see into the eyes of the driver. His eyes were extremely crazed, bugging out of his face," he told the court. O'Rourke said he saw the driver looking at the centre console, which he found "concerning," and thought Grieves was trying to get a weapon. "The Grieves family will have to excuse me but this driver was completely crazed. He didn't care about me." O'Rourke says he drew his firearm and started ordering the driver to show his hands. "Neither the passenger nor the driver were obeying commands … their hands were down." 'The gun went off… I didn't know how' O'Rourke said he stepped forward to see what the driver was doing as he kept rummaging through the centre console. "I stumbled forward, much like stubbing a toe on a piece of furniture … losing balance and I was propelled into the car," he said. O'Rourke said his hands and shoulders were now in the car as he kept holding his gun with his elbows locked out and arms extended, with his gun accessible to the front seat passengers. He demonstrated to the court how he was holding his gun with both hands with his fingers on the firearm's slide. O'Rourke said he didn't see a gun inside and started struggling to get free. "The gun went off. It completely shocked me. I didn't know why. I didn't know how," he told the court in tears. He said he removed himself from the car and immediately administered first aid. He told the court they performed CPR on Grieves and he also did an artificial resuscitation, and eventually EMS arrived and took over. O'Rourke says he felt his actions met the bar for the police use of force model, which says there must be a risk of serious bodily harm or death. The model was discussed in Wednesday's court proceedings. "There's no question. I absolutely felt that the situation met the mandate of serious bodily harm or death," he said. On Wednesday, a firearms expert who had examined O'Rourke's gun testified it was in good working order. The Crown is expected to cross-examine O'Rourke on Friday. O'Rourke, who joined the Chatham-Kent OPP detachment in 2004, has been suspended with pay since being charged by the unit in 2022.
CBC
15-05-2025
- CBC
Chatham OPP constable in manslaughter trial says his gun went off — but he doesn't know how
OPP Const. Sean O'Rourke is on trial for manslaughter in the shooting death of 24-year-old Nicholas Grieves. On the fourth day of the trial, the court heard from O'Rourke himself on his actions in the early hours of July 7, 2021. The CBC's Pratyush Dayal reports.
