Several patterns have emerged after the last few Vancouver police witnesses testified at a coroner鈥檚 inquest into the death of Myles Gray in August 2015.
The 14 officers who have testified so far have used the same language to describe Gray鈥檚 behaviour as police struggled to restrain him, and many told the inquest they were so focused on their own actions, they don鈥檛 have clear and complete recollections of what others were doing to restrain the 33-year-old.
Gray died shortly after a beating by several officers that left him with injuries including a fractured eye socket, a crushed voice box and ruptured testicles.
At least five officers testified they followed a direction from their police union not to make handwritten notes in the hours after Gray鈥檚 death.
All of them told the inquest they couldn鈥檛 recall who the union鈥檚 directive came from, although Det. Const. Nick Thompson testified last week that it was passed to him by a superior officer while he was still at the scene where Gray died.
Const. Tiffany Tan testified on Monday that she has been in numerous 鈥渄ynamic, abnormal鈥� situations working as an officer in the years since Gray鈥檚 death, and she has never been told not to make handwritten notes at any other time.
Const. Joshua Wong testified last week that a senior officer acting as a union representative told him not to make notes, a request he thought was 鈥渧ery odd.鈥�
Const. Derek Cain and Det. Const. Beau Spencer also told the inquest that a police union representative told each of the officers not to make handwritten notes.
Const. Chris Bowater testified he did make handwritten notes at the time. He said he was assigned the responsibility of writing as much of a report as he could, and he stayed at the scene for about two hours after Gray鈥檚 death.
Several of the officers said they didn鈥檛 speak with each other about the particulars of the struggle with Gray in the hours after his death, while two others told the inquest there was some kind of peer-support discussion that evening.
Asked whether he debriefed with any of the other officers involved, Spencer testified Friday that he was 鈥渧ery familiar that we鈥檙e not able to speak about specific circumstances, and each individual鈥檚 recollection of the event.鈥�
When the officers arrived at police headquarters, 鈥渢here was actually very little talking, if any, about what each person had done,鈥� Spencer told the inquest.
A lawyer for Gray鈥檚 family, Ian Donaldson, also asked Wong last week whether he had spoken to any of the officers present that day by the time he uploaded his statement to the police database some time in early 2016.
Not in relation to the events that day, Wong said.
However, Const. John Gravengard testified Monday that he and other officers he remembers seeing at the scene of Gray鈥檚 death had talked about what they experienced and how they felt as they gathered at police headquarters.
Although most of the officers testified that they didn鈥檛 speak to each other much, if at all, several of them have used the same terms to describe Gray鈥檚 behaviour.
They said he displayed 鈥渟uperhuman鈥� strength and appeared to be in an 鈥渁nimalistic鈥� state, sweating heavily and growling or yelling in an unintelligible way.
Spencer said Gray began to 鈥渂uck鈥� the officer off him 鈥渓ike at a rodeo with a horse.鈥�
Wong also told the inquest Gray was bucking like a horse as several officers struggled to pin him to the ground and handcuff him.
Two officers, Wong and Cain, also described Gray鈥檚 strength, saying he tossed them like a 鈥渄oll,鈥� despite the fact he wasn鈥檛 standing up at the time.
By the time Gray was handcuffed, most officers told the inquest they didn鈥檛 notice any signs of injury besides redness in his face and possible body bruising.
However, Spencer testified that Gray鈥檚 face had become progressively more swollen throughout the struggle, particularly around his orbital bones.
Gray had been in Vancouver making a delivery to a florists鈥� supply shop as part of his business on the Sunshine Coast. The initial 911 call was about an agitated man who sprayed a woman with a garden hose, the inquest has heard.
Cain, a former paramedic who said he performed first aid on Gray, testified on Friday that Gray鈥檚 symptoms suggested he was experiencing a condition called 鈥渆xcited delirium,鈥� describing it as a life-threatening medical emergency.
Several other officers, including Spencer, Thompson, and Const. Kory Folkestad, testified using that same term to describe Gray鈥檚 behaviour.
Earlier in the inquest in Burnaby, B.C., Coroner Larry Marzinzik provided the jury with what he called a 鈥渃autionary note鈥� about the term excited delirium.
To his knowledge, Marzinzik said it鈥檚 not recognized as a cause of death by most pathologists. The jury members should put less weight on the evidence of a lay person on the topic and would be hearing from a medical expert later, he said.
Personnel from the Burnaby fire department, BC Emergency Health Services, the Independent Investigations Office and others are set to testify later this week.
The jury won鈥檛 be able to make findings of legal responsibility at the inquest but may make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
鈥擝renna Owen, The Canadian Press
READ MORE: Vancouver officers say they continued to beat Myles Gray because he continued to resist
