Two police officers face trial for allegedly obstructing justice

Officers face obstructing justice trial

Two Winnipeg police officers will stand trial on charges that they attempted to obstruct justice in connection to a drug investigation in the city's North End.
Consts. Graeme Beattie, 30, and Paul Clark, 41, have pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted obstruction of justice.
Beattie and Clark consented to stand trial in the Court of Queen's Bench after the conclusion of a preliminary hearing Wednesday morning.
The case has been remanded until July, but a trial date has not been set, according to a Manitoba courts spokesperson.
The officers are accused of falsifying notes and reports that led to a man being charged with drug trafficking in May 2008, according to court documents obtained by CBC News when Clark and Beattie were formally charged.
The case against the suspected drug dealer, 20, wound its way through the courts for months until the Crown stayed the charges against the man in October 2008 on the day his preliminary hearing was set to begin.
An internal police service investigation was launched a month later, and the officers were charged in April 2009.
A mandatory publication ban prevents the reporting of any evidence given at the preliminary hearing.
The officers remain on desk duties within the Winnipeg Police Service.

Trial ordered from cops accused of fabricating evidence

WINNIPEG - Two Winnipeg police officers have been ordered to stand trial on allegations they fabricated evidence to build a stronger case against a suspected drug dealer.
Const. Graeme Beattie, 31, and Const. Paul Clark, 42, have pleaded not guilty to obstruction of justice. Their preliminary hearing began last month and ended Wednesday with a judge ruling there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to a Queen’s Bench trial.
A court-ordered ban prevents details of the hearing from being published. No trial dates have been set. None of the allegations has been proven and both men are presumed innocent.
The pair were arrested in March 2009 after the Crown attorney stayed charges of trafficking and proceeds of crime against a 20-year-old man.
The charges read that police "did with intent to mislead fabricate report and notes, with intent that it should be used as evidence in an existing judicial proceeding."
The charges also state the officers made a "false statement" by accusing the young man of drug trafficking.
Both officers joined the police service in 2006 and were moved to administrative duties following their arrests.