THURSDAY, August 28, 2014 v A1
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THE END OF AN
EATERY’S ERA Upscale restaurant Ric’s Grill in downtown Kamloops is no more, following in the footsteps of other Ric’s Grill restaurants in the chain that have closed in B.C. and Alberta. In fact, the Ric’s Grill in the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Aberdeen may be the last surviving restaurant under that moniker, with locations in Kelowna, Prince George and Alberta having closed or now operating under new ownership and new names. Brothers Steve and Jeff Mitton (left) will re-open the Victoria Street Ric’s Grill location as Mittz Kitchen in mid-September. The siblings worked at both Ric’s Grill locations in Kamloops and have a tale to tell — one of financial woes emanating from the chain’s ownership and impacting them, backed up by a number of lawsuits involving at least one Ric’s Grill owner filed in B.C. courts.
STORY, PAGE A5
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Part 3 of KTW’s five-part pre-season report on Kamloops Blazers Page A23 Thompson River Publications Limited Partnership
Charge from sex-cell incident under review By Tim Petruk
STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
A B.C. Supreme Court judge wants to hear arguments from lawyers about the legality of the charge facing the RCMP corporal who was at the helm of the Kamloops detachment the night of the now-infamous 2010 sex-in-cells incident. Rick Brown’s trial on one count of breach of trust by a public officer is slated to get underway on Sept. 9. But, next week, lawyers will meet for a special hearing before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Selwyn Romilly to discuss the legality of the charge. Brown was watch commander on the night of Aug. 18, 2010, when a number of RCMP officers and at least one jail guard allegedly watched
via closed-circuit TV as two female prisoners — one of whom claimed to be HIV-positive — engaged in a sex act in a jail cell. In a pre-trial conference on Tuesday, Aug. 26, Romilly said he wasn’t convinced the matter should go to trial. “I’m not sure this is a criminal matter as opposed to a civil matter,” he said, speaking to Crown prosecutor Winston Sayson. “I want to know if this is a criminal matter. Let’s assume that all the things that you say on your summary [of Crown evidence] are proved — is this a criminal matter?” The issue at Brown’s trial is expected to be legal rather than factual — largely whether his actions represented a “serious and marked
The jail cell in the Kamloops RCMP detachment where staff allegedly watched two women prisoners engage in a sex act in August 2010.
departure from the standards expected of an individual in the accused’s position of public trust,” accord-
ing to a 2006 Supreme Court of Canada acquittal of a police officer who asked a subordinate to lie after his daughter was
involved in a car accident. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Denis Boulanger was not guilty because his “private purpose” was not in an attempt to “undermine the public good.” Brown’s defence lawyer, Glen Orris, doesn’t believe charges should have been laid in the first place, arguing the allegations against his client wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny in relation to the Boulanger decision. “This may be an internal RCMP matter, but it doesn’t rise to a criminal offence,” he said. “The facts — I don’t see how the facts
can possibly establish what was set out in Boulanger.” The legal-argument hearing will take place on Sept. 4, with Brown’s judge-alone trial slated to begin on Sept. 9. Last year, municipal jail guard David Tompkins was placed on a year of probation after pleading guilty to breach of trust. Tompkins remained employed by the city after his conviction. Two RCMP constables — Evan Elgee and Stephen Zaharia — were charged alongside Brown and Tompkins, but charges against both men were later dropped. Elgee’s charges were stayed following a preliminary inquiry in 2013 and Zaharia’s in June of this year. Elgee and Zaharia are
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both still on duty with the RCMP. Elgee has since been transferred to a detachment outside B.C. and Zaharia is working out of the Kamloops Rural RCMP office. Brown was suspended with pay after the incident and later placed on paid administrative leave — where he remains. RCMP officials in Ottawa would not elaborate on how administrative leave is different than a paid suspension, but Brown has not worked since the sex-in-cells incident, more than four years ago, and has been paid the entire time. At the time of the incident, he was a veteran Mountie with more than 20 years of experience. Breach of trust by a public officer is punishable by a maximum of five years behind bars.