R. v. Connelly Date:, 2012 BCPC 377

Citation: R. v. Connelly Date: 20120919 2012 BCPC 0377 File No: 94724 Registry: Kamloops IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA REGINA v. DAVID CONNELLY REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE HONOURABLE JUDGE S.D. FRAME Counsel for the Crown: Mr. N. Flanagan Counsel for the Accused: Mr. D. Campbell Place of Hearing: Kamloops , B.C. Date of Hearing: August 29, 2012 Date of Judgment: September 19, 2012

[ 1 ] David Connelly is charged with assaulting Stephan Still, causing him bodily harm. [ 2 ] The incident occurred at Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre (K.R.C.C.) on April 8, 2012. Mr. Connelly and Mr. Still were cellmates who did not appear to enjoy each other’s company. [ 3 ] Mr. Still was serving a sentence at K.R.C.C. He said that he was assigned to work in the kitchen. During the time that he was at K.R.C.C., he had a number of different inmates. Ultimately, Mr. Connelly was assigned to his cell. They had to share the cell for about a week or two before the incident. [ 4 ] Mr.

Still said that there were two or three incidents where food had been moved around his cell or “messed with”. He said Mr. Connelly admitted he had helped himself to Mr. Still’s items on a couple of occasions. [ 5 ] On the third occasion, Mr. Still noted that some of his food had been moved around. He and Mr. Connelly exchanged words which included swearing. Mr. Still said that Mr. Connelly told him there was nothing he could do about it. He challenged Mr. Still about what he was going to do about it so Mr. Still told him to come down. Mr. Connelly was on an upper bunk at this time. Mr.

Connelly jumped down and they raised their fists to each other. Mr. Still said he took a swing to show how serious he was then told Mr. Connelly to go talk to a corrections officer about a cell change because he did not want Mr. Connelly in his cell anymore. [ 6 ] Mr. Still said Mr. Connelly left the cell without saying a word. The door was closed but not locked. Mr. Still grabbed his novel and laid down on his bed to start reading. [ 7 ] Mr. Still said that he was lying on the bed in a semi-reclining position with his knees bent up.

His bed is situated so that his feet were toward the door and his head toward the wall. [ 8 ] Some moments later, Mr. Still saw the door swing open. He looked above his book and saw Mr. Connelly standing at the door. Mr. Connelly said “fuck you”, swung his hand with the jug in it and doused Mr. Still with boiling water. Mr. Connelly then shut the door all the way to so that it was locked, and ran away. Mr. Still leapt to his feet and stripped off the scalding clothing. He was yelling for help which came quickly.

However, the water was very hot resulting in severe burns to his stomach, the back of one of his legs and to the tops of his feet. [ 9 ] After being bandaged, Mr. Still saw Mr. Connelly in a holding area and made a comment provoking a fight. He was admonished by corrections staff for it. [ 10 ] In cross-examination, Mr. Still was challenged on his familiarity with the jail system because he insisted that prisoners were not permitted to take boiling water or any cooking instruments into the cells. Mr.

Still said that his criminal past was a long time ago, that he had been working for a living and not getting into trouble. His criminal record clearly belies this. [ 11 ] Mr. Still was also cross-examined on whether he actually had a shiv and came at Mr. Connelly with it when Mr. Connelly returned to the cell. Mr. Still does have a history of using knives in his assaultive behaviour. Mr. Still downplayed that. He did agree that Mr. Connelly may have known that he was in jail because of a matter involving his brother-in-law and Mr. Still having a knife. [ 12 ] Mr.

Connelly said he was lying on his bunk reading when Mr. Still came back early from his kitchen shift. Mr. Still said he had a bad headache. Mr. Still was in the cell for a few minutes when he accused Mr. Connelly of going through his stuff. He was confrontational so Mr. Connelly came down from his bunk and said he never touched Mr. Still’s stuff. Mr. Still told him that he should go talk to a guard. Mr. Connelly said he was getting ready for lockdown anyway so he went to get his water. He says he takes a jug of boiling water up to his cell for lockdown every day. [ 13 ] Mr.

Connelly said he boiled his water, filled the jug and returned to his cell. He said Mr. Still was sitting in a chair and jumped up with a knife in his hand. Mr. Connelly said Mr. Still was coming at him holding the knife extended. Mr. Connelly was holding the jug in his right hand and moved it in front of him to block Mr. Still. He threw the water and it went on Mr. Still from the waist down. Mr. Connelly said it was a split second reaction to throw the water, his only thought being that it would slow Mr. Still down. Mr. Connelly said he threw the hot water onto him and ran out closing the door.

He said he was afraid that Mr. Still would run out and stab him and believed that Mr. Still had been sitting in the cell waiting to do so. [ 14 ] Mr. Connelly confirmed that he had heard from Mr. Still that he was in jail for getting in a fight with his brother that involved a knife but did not really involve a knife. [ 15 ] Correctional Supervisor Kevin Lemire brought the video from the unit recording the events outside the cell before the water was thrown. In the video which was not particularly good quality, Mr. Connelly was seen boiling the water, filling the jug and carrying it up the stairs.

It took some time for the water to boil but nothing can be gained from observing Mr. Connelly’s body language while he waited for it to do so. [ 16 ] In the video though, Mr. Connelly can be seen going into the cell and very quickly running out shutting the door behind him. Based on the video, there were six seconds from the time Mr. Connelly went into the cell, came out, shut the door and proceeded along to the stairs. [ 17 ] Correctional Supervisor Lemire said that they heard shouting and came out right away. They can be seen leaving the staff room and approaching the stairs immediately after Mr.

Connelly leaves the cell. [ 18 ] Correctional Supervisor Lemire confirmed that when Mr. Connelly shut the door firmly it caused the door to lock.

[ 19 ] Correctional Supervisor Lemire confirmed that no cooking is permitted in the cells and nor are the prisoners permitted to take boiling water to their cells. They can take a cup of coffee or tea but not a kettle. However, Correctional Supervisor Lemire did admit that the policy is not enforced uniformly. [ 20 ] Correctional Supervisor Lemire did not conduct the inspection of the cell, but confirmed an inspection was done of it, the unit and the two inmates. No weapons were found in the cell or on the prisoners. [ 21 ] Neither Mr. Still nor Mr. Connelly were terribly credible. Where Mr.

Still’s evidence was contrived, Mr. Connelly’s did not stand up to scrutiny in cross-examination. The animosity between Mr. Still and Mr. Connelly was evident not only in the respective versions of events they gave, but also in the delivery of their testimony in court. They were as determined to sling insults as they were to give testimony. [ 22 ] I am left with my observations of the video, the evidence of Correctional Supervisor Lemire and the photographs of Mr. Still’s injuries. With this objective evidence, I find that Mr. Still and Mr. Connelly engaged in a dispute about whether Mr.

Connelly was going through Mr. Still’s belongings. Mr. Still told Mr. Connelly to go get another cell. Mr. Connelly left the cell with no intention of doing so. He went to the kitchen to boil water as is his practice before lockdown. However, this was a good 20 minutes before lockdown would occur and it would make no sense to boil the water so soon. [ 23 ] In any event, Mr. Connelly then took the boiled water in a jug up to his cell, stepped in and threw it on Mr. Still. Had the water been thrown on Mr. Still in the manner indicated by Mr. Connelly, it would have covered Mr. Still from the waist down as it did.

However, this cannot explain how Mr. Still got the water on the back of his legs. The only logical way this could have happened is if Mr. Still was lying on his bunk with his knees up in the manner described by him. No knife was found in the cell block or on either of the inmates. I reject Mr. Connelly’s evidence that Mr. Still had a knife and that he got up from a chair with the intention of attacking Mr. Connelly. [ 24 ] I am satisfied that the Crown has proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt and convict Mr. Connelly. _____________________________ S.D. Frame Provincial Court Judge