Two Montreal police officers lied about the death of a detainee in 2017: Ethics Committee

MONTREAL — The Quebec police ethics board has found that two Montreal officers lied to investigators investigating the 2017 death of a man in custody.

In his ruling, Administrative Judge Benoit McMahon said police officers Mathieu Paré and Dominic Gagné knew the information they had entered on a medical record form for the 23-year-old man was inaccurate, and they made a statement to police station investigators the province incorrect information.

“They tried to explain the inexplicable but forgot to take into account that they were filmed during the booking process,” wrote McMahon in his decision, made last week.

David Tshiteya Kalubi died in a holding cell at the Montreal Municipal Court on November 8, 2017. He was awaiting an appearance before a judge after being arrested the night before on two outstanding warrants.

During the booking process at a Montreal police station after the arrest, Gagné, who has since been promoted to detective sergeant, asked Kalubi if he had any medical conditions. Kalubi told the officer he had anemia and was taking medication for it — an interaction that was captured on video.

However, Paré wrote on the admission form, which was then sent to detention officers at the courthouse, that Kalubi was not ill or taking any medication.

In his written report to the police inspector Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, Paré did not mention that he had asked Kalubi if he had a medical condition or was taking any medication.

During a later interview, an investigator asked Paré whether he might have written reflexively or out of habit that Kalubi had no illness. Paré insisted that Kalubi tell him that when he wrote “no”. Paré showed the video contradicting his story from investigators and ended the interview.

In Gagné’s written account, he said Kalubi had told him he had no illnesses.

“The difference between what was said during the booking process and what he reported to the BEI is striking,” wrote McMahon. “When the police officer was asked to explain these major contradictions, he began a rambling and unbelievable justification exercise. His testimony is not credible.”

McMahon wrote that Gagné suggested without evidence that he may have been distracted by someone on the police radio when Kalubi was answering his questions about medication, and that he did so upon hearing that Kalubi was taking folic acid for his anemia in addition to prescription medication Don’t think of it as a “treatment plan” because pregnant women often take folic acid supplements and are not sick.

“These weak explanations are unbelievable. The board rejects them,” the judge wrote.

McMahon found that the two officers had violated two articles of the police code of ethics by providing false information and showing negligence or a lack of concern for Kalubi’s well-being.

In 2019, Quebec prosecutors ruled that the two officers’ actions did not constitute criminal negligence and that Kalubi’s inability to access his anemia medication was unrelated to the heart condition that killed him.

The ethics committee will decide on sanctions against the two officials at a later date.

The lawyer representing Gagné and Paré before the board did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on February 7, 2023.

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press

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