Howard Rubin Asks For Second Opinion

By 250 News

Howard Rubin , the lawyer representing the Bush family at the Coroner’s Inquest in the shooting death of 22 year old Ian Bush, has made application before Coroner Shane DeMeyer to have another Pathologist testify. 

Rubin says he would like to call on Dr.John Butt, who testified in the Air India Crash, to testify at the Coroner’s Inquest in Houston.   Rubin  believes  that   a mark 6 to 8 inches long and three inches wide on the leg of Ian Bush was not an in- grown hair as has been suggested by Dr. John Stefanelli a pathologist from Kamloops, but rather a bruise.

Rubin believes the  bruise was the result of an attempt to kick Bush in the testicles, a move taught RCMP officers to bring people resisting arrest into submission.  Dr. Stefanelli testified that he couldn’t be sure if it was an in- grown hair infection or a bruise but he leaned on the idea of an ingrown hair. He testified that as he did the autopsy on Ian Bush , two police officers who had brought the body to Kamloops, discussed possible reasons for the mark. The two officers suggested the mark on Bush’s groin may have come from a pinch.

Rubin says he is working for the Bush family for free and he called on the Coroner to subpoena Butt to get his take of the bruise. Rubin is certain Butt will say it was caused by a blow and is not an ingrown hair.

Constable Paul Koester, the officer who shot Ian Bush in the back of the head, has testified he can’t remember if he kicked Bush in the testicles.  

Michalle Brown of the BC Ambulance Service arrived at the station about 30 minutes after the shooting. She said it was reduced to a code 2 which indicates it has been down grading from a serious matter. At the same time Howard Rubin asked her to repeat what she had said to him after she phoned his hotel room. Rubin met with Brown who, upon being asked if she thought Bush had been kicked in the groin, asked who he was the lawyer for.

Brown then did not respond when she discovered that Rubin represented the family. She also testified that Koester was a mess following the shooting. "He was crying and shaking a lot" she said. Quoting from an earlier statement, Brown said she overheard Police officer Dave Leonard tell a fellow officer that Koester was worried about his job. That comment came within one hour of the shooting.

Corporal Derek Donovan said he was the first person on the scene after the shooting. He found Koester lying in the middle of the interview room, while Bush was partially straddling the sofa. He said he helped Koester out of the room as he was very wobbly then returned to check Bush’s pulse and determined he was dead.

In taking pictures in the interview room, Donovan says he saw a full beer bottle near a chair. This is the same beer bottle that the forensic report shows had a thumb print of Ian Bush on it. Koester said in his testimony that he never saw a full beer bottle in the room nor did he take one from Bush. It does however have Ian Bush’s thumb print on it.

Howard Rubin said "We cannot allow police to investigate police."  Rubin says there is no transparency "What happens is that after all of the evidence is in then the officer involved gives his statement."  Rubin says there was  more than one statement  given in this case "There was a statement taken on Oct 30^th that was supposed to be three lines but turned out to be two pages, it was replaced by another statement on Nov 17^th. In between Koester wrote a 40 pager with his wife and then they threw it out. Then another statement was written on February 8^th 2006, a further meeting was held in recent weeks in which notes were added to the statement."   

Rubin says you cannot have police investigating police when it takes 8 to 10 months to get a statement.

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