Two documents sit in the Prince George Supreme Court registry spelling out the civil case for and against the RCMP pertaining to the death of Clayton Alvin Willey in 2003.
Willey was arrested on July 21, 2003, after a prolonged and violent confrontation with police amid a cocaine frenzy. He died about 16 hours later.
He was, police have now admitted, physically abused by officers once inside the Prince George detachment. That abuse, the RCMP now acknowledges, went unaddressed due to problems with internal investigations and co-operation with external investigations over the years.
However, none of the reports into the incident - the most recent being last week's Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP probe of the incident - ties Willey's death to the conduct of police.
The civil law suit now underway by the Willey family seeks to connect the two.
The RCMP's legal position denies all of the allegations suggesting Willey's death was: a result of their use of conducted energy weapons (CEWs or Tasers) on him; the pulling and dragging of his restrained body through parts of the detachment, including a fall out of the arrest vehicle; the use of a hog-tie leg restraint device; or any other action on their part.
The Willey's eight-page notice of claim names the provincial and federal Crown as a defendant, plus the Emergency Health Services Commissioner, civilians Wade Penner, Douglas Fraser and Brian Chadwick plus RCMP members Holly Hearn, John Graham, Lisa MacKenzie, Kevin Rutten, Glenn Caston, Jana Scott, Kevin O'Donnell, John Scott and Bob Pilot.
The plaintiffs in the case are listed as Gloria Willey, Bryna Willey, Monique Willey, Kyle Edwards, Skyler Briggs, Clayton Willey Jr., and the estate of Clay
Alvin Willey.
The statement describes, in part, how Willey was "repeatedly punched, kicked and otherwise assaulted... where he was plainly unable to assault any of the defendants or to offer any resistance or defence to the assaults being made upon him... was repeatedly Tasered [while unable] to offer any resistance..." and furthermore did not summon medical assistance quickly enough.
It is further alleged that the force failed to establish and/or enforce reasonable standards in the use of CEWs, hog-tie devices or the use of force in
circumstances akin to Willey's.
It also alleges that the force failed to adequately investigate the matter.
"Gloria Willey [mother of Clay Willey] has suffered nervous shock and other psychiatric and/or psychological disability, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as general loss of health, all as a foreseeable consequence of the conduct of the defendants...," the document reads.
"In addition, she has suffered loss of love and affection, care and consortium arising from the death of her son, Clay Alvin Willey...[Also his children] Monique Willey, Kyle Edwards, Skyler Briggs, Clayton Willey Jr. have suffered loss of affection, care and consortium arising from the death of their father."
In a four-page document entitled "Response to Civil Claim", the RCMP retorts that their arrest actions were in accordance with their contractual public mandate, and that none of the actions led to Willey's death of a cocaine overdose.
"The Province denies that its conduct gives rise to a claim for aggravated and punitive damages as alleged...and holds the plaintiffs to provide strict proof," the response document says, in part.
The Willey's legal counsel of record is Simon Wagstaffe while the defendants are represented by counsel of record Tina Parbhakar.
