MCC Day 9 - Witness Panel of First Officers on Scene + Collaborative Cross-Examination

Today was a significant day at the Mass Casualty Commission, as it featured the first substantive witnesses, testified together in the unusual structure of a witness panel. It also featured our first look at how the Commissioners will address the issue of participants’ ability to cross-examine witnesses. The panel of witnesses included the three RCMP officers who initially responded to the original 911 calls, Constable Stuart Beselt, Constable Adam Merchant, and Constable Aaron Patton. Together, they described their reactions to getting the initial messages shortly after 10 PM on April 18, 2020, their first steps down Portapique Beach Road, and their mindset and actions over the next several hours as they dealt with the active shooter situation in the community. The testimony was quite compelling at times, and was certainly superior to having a presentation of a Foundational Document on the topic by Commission lawyers. One can imagine that maps and other graphics utilized by Commission lawyers during their presentations could be utilized in the course of direct examination to police witnesses and others who directly involved, rather than we have seen so far. The presentations could be dropped entirely, and replaced with these more compelling witness accounts. Our first look at cross-examination during the MCC was fairly brief. The lawyers evidently spoke over the lunch break about who would ask the questions, and Rob Pineo from Patterson Law was chosen. Mr. Pineo appeared by Zoom (for some reason that was not explained), and had a brief cross-examination. The GPS issue arose, and there were some questions about locations of fires and whether the officers had seen a white Ford F-150 truck at any point in their travels. This collaborative form of cross-examination may seem preferable where there are very few questions of substance to ask, but where interests of the parties diverge and collaboration is more difficult, or where there are just more questions to be asked, the Commission may need to show some flexibility in their approach. The Commission is back on Wednesday to hear from a witness, Deborah Tibbo, and to give a presentation on the Foundational Document for the Wentworth and Hunter Road portions of the mass shooting.