Blatchford: Bewildering how no one ever even considered keeping Shawn Maxwell Rehn in jail

Shawn Maxwell Rehn, 34, the man suspected of shooting two Mounties in St. Albert, Alta., was found dead in a private home. Photo: Facebook

It was by just about any measure the sloppiest bail hearing imaginable, where the key participants in the justice system appeared to be merely going through the motions.

Shawn Maxwell Rehn, who killed himself after shooting two RCMP officers last weekend — one, Const. David Wynn, died in hospital of a gunshot wound to the head Wednesday morning — was making his first appearance in Alberta provincial court in Edmonton on Sept. 4 last year.

Rehn, who had just turned 34, was arrested the day before on a whole raft of new charges, and there were also outstanding warrants for his arrest on seven other criminal charges in the Redwater/Fort Saskatchewan area, northeast of the capital.

None of these were trifling matters.

Rehn was already under two firearms and weapons bans — one issued in 2010 in Alberta and another in 2011 in Ontario. And among the new charges was possession of a prohibited weapon, a four-inch, spring-loaded knife. And among the outstanding warrants for his arrest, which dated back to December of 2013, was one count of using an imitation firearm.

And yet, as the nine-page transcript of the brief proceeding shows, there was not a single mention of Rehn’s already extensive criminal record — he’d been convicted by then at least 50 times, and if most weren’t for violent offences, he was clearly an habitual offender who routinely gave the metaphorical finger to the court.

There was no mention of his multiple breaches of court orders, no mention of his repeated flouting of the conditions of his previous releases. There was no discussion of him requiring to get a surety, a person, often a family member, who has to supervise the person on bail and report him to police if necessary.

And, even accounting for the smug wisdom of hindsight, this is perhaps the most galling thing: it appears no one ever even considered keeping Rehn in jail — on any of three possible grounds.

Weirdly, it was as if the option to do so didn’t exist in that courtroom that day.

The house in Spruce Grove where the mother of Shawn Maxwell Rehn, who shot two RCMP officers in St.Albert is believed to live. [(Photo by John Lucas/Edmonton Journal)]

Rehn could have been detained either on what are called the primary grounds, where an accused is kept in jail to ensure he shows up for his next court appearance, or on the so-called secondary grounds, in that he posed a threat to public safety and was likely to commit another criminal offence if he was freed.

His track record, had anyone bothered to read it, might have established that he fit either category.

Acting on behalf of the Crown, and this is common in Alberta, as well as in a handful of other provinces, was not a proper prosecutor, but rather an Edmonton Police officer, Const. Winston Quan.

(Police acting as de facto prosecutors is a decades-old practice in Alberta, and happens only in what are called “first instance” bail hearings.)

On the phone was the lawyer that day representing Rehn, Chady Moustarah.

And in the hot seat was the justice of the peace, Joyce Lester, who later that month was named as a judge to the Alberta provincial court.

The transcript shows the new charges were read aloud by JP Lester, as she then was. “What is the Crown’s position, then, please, on release?” she asked.

The man suspected of shooting two Mounties in St. Albert Saturday morning has been identified by RCMP as Shawn Maxwell Rehn, 34. [Facebook]

There was an un-transcribed discussion, and then Const. Quan told the JP that “we have agreed on a joint release in the amount of $4,500,” split between the two jurisdictions where Rehn was facing charges.

There was some brief discussion of the money, then Lester asked for a “brief summary of the circumstances that bring Mr. Rehn before me,” and Quan explained that police had spotted a stolen motorcycle in a Walmart parking lot, given chase on foot and finally arrested Rehn. When they searched him, they found the knife, a bit of marijuana and a small quantity of methamphetamines, too small to be weighed.

The JP asked if Moustarah and Quan had discussed the conditions of the proposed release, and Quan replied that yes, they had — “keep the peace and be of good behaviour, then attend court when necessary, which are the basics.”

It was the defence lawyer who suggested a condition prohibiting Rehn from drugs, and a weapons ban, and that he be required to seek employment or stay in school.

Quan asked that Rehn be barred from a part of Edmonton (it’s not clear why) and that he be prohibited from driving vehicles he didn’t own or borrowed without the owner’s consent — in other words, that he not drive stolen cars.

There is a tribute set up outside the St. Albert RCMP headquarters at 96 Bellerose Drive for the two RCMP officers. [(Photo by Bruce Edwards / Edmonton Journal)]

Lester promptly read aloud the conditions and gave Rehn dates to return to court on both sets of charges. Once he signed his bail papers and posted his funds, he was a free man.

The justice of the peace appeared to make no judicial determination of her own, but rather to rubber-stamp the joint submission before her.

In other words, when Shawn Rehn appeared that day in bail court, for all anyone seemed to know, he might just as well have been a first offender, or a young offender — a criminal amateur.

And this, I suspect, is some of what RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson (though he didn’t specifically mention this bail hearing) was referring to the other day when he talked about how bewildering it was that Rehn came to be free.

Perhaps, had the JP probed more and made her own determination (as indeed JPs and judges are supposed to do) or the cop-turned-de-facto prosecutor asked more questions, Rehn may still have been released.

But it would be a small comfort to know that someone, somewhere, that day had at least given a passing thought to the notion of detaining him.

Postmedia News

cblatchford@postmedia.com

post from sitemap