Prince George, B.C. –  The  Coroner’s Inquest into the death  of  Greg Matters  heard from the  Constable who  deployed the CEW  at Matters on September 10th, 2012 on a rural property  on the east side of Prince George.

Constable Matthew Reddemen testified   he  had   sprinted forward  when called  up  by Constable Merriman.  He said he was  on uneven ground and was  slipping.   Although not given a direct order to deploy the CEW, when  he  did   deploy it,  it didn’t make the necessary contact on Matters’ body and  failed to  do the  job  intended.

Then a fellow  officer fired two shots, and  Matters was down.

The inquest then  started to hear testimony from  Rob Stutt, the  investigator with the Independent Investigations Office.  The  shooting of Greg Matters was the second file referred to the IIO on it’s official first day of operations, but it was the first file the  IIO would investigate.

Much of the afternoon was spent  on legal submissions over the admissibility of reports.   Specifically, the  Coroner ruled the  public report  and  internal report by the IIO   would not be entered as exhibits.    Counsel for the  Coroners  Service, Rod MacKenzie  said “We are  here to talk about what happened to Mr. Matters, not to dissect the investigation that happened after the fact.”

Presiding Coroner, Chico Newell  made it clear,  examining the IIO investigation is not within  the scope of  a Coroner’s inquest.

Stutt is to continue his  testimony  in the morning.