Police announced this morning that they won’t be laying any charges in connection with the Olympic village documents that went missing last fall. They say it’s partly because some councillors declined to take a polygraphy test.
As far as I can determine, that includes all the Vision councillors at the time — Raymond Louie, Tim Stevenson, George Chow, and Heather Deal — and COPE councillor David Cadman. I’ve been able to verify with everyone except Kim Capri from the NPA side that they took the test or were willing to. (Elizabeth Ball was dealing with family issues and hadn’t taken it yet, but had told police she would.)
To add to all the many tangles in this mysterious case, Inspector Les Yeo said it was also clear that any information leaked to the media, i.e. Gary Mason at the Globe, came NOT from that document but from minutes produced after the meeting. For those who don’t recall the timeline — the meeting where the document went missing was Oct. 14. It reappeared two days later in B.C. Lee’s office. Gary’s story appeared Nov. 6, in the heat of the election campaign. Then-mayor Sam Sullivan asked police to investigate Nov. 11 (i.e. after the leak, not immediately after the document went missing)
You can read the entire police report on the matter — well, except for the two-thirds of it that they blacked out — on their website here.
Inspector Les Yeo said police were also not able to come up with any evidence through forensics or video footage that provided enough evidence to lay charges. I guess we won’t find out now until Gary’s Deep Throat decides to provide a confession in his old age, a la Mark Felt. Hope I live so long.
9 responses so far ↓
1 LP // May 12, 2009 at 12:12 pm
This isn’t a surprise and nor should it be.
I’ve said throughout my life that if you have nothing to hide, then you shouldn’t be afraid of the telling the truth.
I guess the VV councillors have something to hide or they would have taken the polygraph test.
Too bad, I would have thought that had they done nothing wrong, clearing the organic mud off their faces would have been a priority.
2 A. G. Tsakumis // May 12, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Did anyone ask members of Sam’s staff?
3 Not running for mayor // May 12, 2009 at 12:45 pm
There has been lots of chatter that it wasn’t even any of the councillors but one rogue member of the security staff at city hall.
4 Denis // May 12, 2009 at 1:40 pm
It is my understanding that a polygraphy can’t stand up in court. Interesting point by a A.G.Tsakumis.
A big waste of cops time as somebody tried to point fingures
5 LP // May 12, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Yes, diddo my comments for Sam’s staff as well.
Regarding the polygraph test not standing up in court, you’re watching too many tv shows Denis.
Many factors come into play regardless of the type of evidence gathered and by what means.
6 Polygaffe // May 12, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Polygraphs are prone to false positives and aren’t admissable in court. if it can’t be used in court, then it’s not strong enough to base charges on.
this debate is ridiculous and just reminds me why people were so angry last election. we’re talking about lie detector tests, meanwhile the city is on the hook for a billion dollar project and was up until recently locked in with a bleeding hedge fund.
where’s the police investigation into how that happened?
7 sv // May 12, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Or are polygraphs imadmissable ok court? Either way they seem useless.
8 Todd Sieling // May 13, 2009 at 7:12 am
Language notes:
+1 for use of the word ‘purloined’
-1 for ‘diddo’ which is really ‘ditto’.
Polygraphs can be called into question. They’re never taken as the single deciding piece of evidence, but as contributing evidence. As a technology, they’re as much dependent on the capability of the person administering the test as they are on the quality of the machine itself. It’s well-established that they can be thrown off by some people who know how to produce emotional responses to every question, so there’s no chance of calibration for the person being interviewed.
9 Forthingham // May 13, 2009 at 10:11 am
“I guess the VV councillors have something to hide or they would have taken the polygraph test.”
wrong gonzo-breath. that is a false assumption on many fronts.
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