Verdict imminent in Dziekanski taser perjury trial

One of the four Mounties accused of lying during testimony at a public inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski will learn his fate Monday.

Constable Bill Bentley’s trial last month was the first of four perjury cases against the officers who confronted Mr. Dziekanski at Vancouver’s airport in October, 2007, stunning him several times with a taser. He died on the floor of the terminal.

Constables Bentley, Kwesi Millington and Gerry Rundell, and former corporal Benjamin (Monty) Robinson found a distraught Mr. Dziekanski throwing furniture in the arrivals terminal. Mr. Dziekanski had been inside the terminal for 10 hours and was unable to communicate because he didn’t speak English.

Constable Bentley’s legal troubles began when he tried to explain during the 2009 Braidwood Inquiry the differences between what could be seen on amateur video and what he initially told homicide investigators.

The constable told investigators and wrote in his notes that the Polish immigrant grabbed a stapler and came at the officers screaming, was stunned and wrestled to the ground.

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