Coroner Rules Don Lewis Inquest Will Go Ahead
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Wednesday, June 04, 2008 05:39 PM
Williams Lake, B.C. - Coroner Shane DeMeyer ruled today in Williams Lake that the Coroner's inquest into the death of Don Lewis who was shot to death by Const. Cole Brewer near McLeese Lake will go on, in spite of a motion by the lawyer for the family asking for an adjournment.
(at right, l-r, Don Lewis and Sarah Penny exchange marriage vows, photo courtesy Sarah Penny Lewis)
Cameron Ward, acting on behalf of the wife of Lewis, said he has represented the family at the inquest for nothing, and that he has paid his own expenses. He asked for some more time for the family to try and raise some more money to allow the wife of the deceased to attend and to have him represent her.
Ward told the inquest there are two lawyers representing Const Brewer and the RCMP, there are two RCMP media officers along with as many as nine other RCMP officers who have been attending the inquest.
Ward said the two RCMP lawyers are probably billing out at about $7,000 dollars a day to which David Butcher (representing the RCMP) said that’s not correct but he did not offer up the amount they were receiving.
Ward says the figure that the taxpayer is coming good for is about $12,000 dollars a day.
Counsel for the inquest, Mitch Houg said, “I earn $150 bucks an hour and for a seven or eight hour day it isn’t much compared to what I could be doing."
Ward said,” I wish I was even being paid for expenses but I am not and my client is expected to pay her own expenses even though she is here discussing the death of her husband”.
Coroner Shane DeMeyer said it is not under his mandate to be able to hand out funding for the family and their lawyers and the Federal Government covers the cost of RCMP lawyers.
The Inquest will now go ahead without the family having a lawyer in attendance to ask questions and the family says without having legal representation, the inquest will just turn into a white wash.
The inquest will hear from an Immigration Officer tomorrow.
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Comments
Posted by: owl on June 4 2008 9:46 PM"Ward said the two RCMP lawyers are probably billing out at about $7,000 dollars a day to which David Butcher (representing the RCMP) said that’s not correct but he did not offer up the amount they were receiving."
It's probably $7,387.98/ day
;-)
It's probably $7,387.98/ day
;-)
Posted by: owl on June 4 2008 9:52 PM"The inquest will hear from an Immigration Officer tomorrow."
Was he or she at the scene? Or is he/she going to testify that Lewis was an "illegal alien" as they would term it in the USA, and thus a fair target for shooting and handcuffing to a tree rather than calling an ambulance and attending to him until the ambulance came.
POWs who are shot on a field of battle are treated better than that.
Was he or she at the scene? Or is he/she going to testify that Lewis was an "illegal alien" as they would term it in the USA, and thus a fair target for shooting and handcuffing to a tree rather than calling an ambulance and attending to him until the ambulance came.
POWs who are shot on a field of battle are treated better than that.
Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on June 4 2008 10:45 PMI wonder why Don Lewis tried to bolt and got physical with a big cop? Little Man syndrome?
Or maybe just owly at being woken up from a nap? My dad was like that, you had to wake him up with a long stick and then run to avoid a smack!
Or maybe just owly at being woken up from a nap? My dad was like that, you had to wake him up with a long stick and then run to avoid a smack!
Posted by: REALIST on June 4 2008 11:23 PMAh... A violent childhood. That certainly explains a great deal about what we have seen here so often.
Posted by: lostfaith on June 5 2008 9:46 AM" Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on June 4 2008 10:45 PM
I wonder why Don Lewis tried to bolt and got physical with a big cop? Little Man syndrome?"
Who know if that really happened.
Only the last man standing knows what happened.
I wonder why Don Lewis tried to bolt and got physical with a big cop? Little Man syndrome?"
Who know if that really happened.
Only the last man standing knows what happened.
Posted by: metalman on June 5 2008 10:13 AMWe will never know. The information being put forward sure is disturbing though.
metalman.
metalman.
Posted by: Shelly on June 6 2008 7:24 PMWell unfortunately, looks like funding will halt justice for this family and the RCMP will go on with their tactics. Maybe the next victim they take out will be one with money and then the laws will change. In the U.S. we pay for hard criminals to get the best lawyers available, with the taxpayers money. In Canada, looks like the taxpayers, pay for the police to investigate and protect themselves. Won't be a country I will be going to live in or visit anytime soon.
What will the cop friendly Coroner squelch in this latest series of RCMP shoot-em-ups.