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Lawyers presented competing arguments Friday in the trial of a Winnipeg constable accused of compromising a drug scene in 2022.
They cast Jonathan Kiazyk as either a man who used the power of his badge “to steal some weed” or made a series of “foolish, stupid” mistakes while on duty that night.
Kiazyk, now 48, has pleaded not guilty to breach of trust, obstructing a police officer and unlawfully being in a dwelling house with the intent to commit theft. Kiazyk and a now-disgraced former officer he was partnered with were accused of taking cannabis from an Airbnb suite they were supposed to guard as other officers worked to get a search warrant.
Court heard officers discovered cannabis and what appeared to be fentanyl after responding to an unrelated call at the Stradbrook Avenue suite. They left Kiazyk and Elston Bostock to secure the suite until they got a warrant to allow them to return and legally search it.
Prosecutors allege the two officers instead went inside and took some of the cannabis. Photos taken before and after officers left the scene to get a warrant appeared to show the cannabis bag had been moved, leading to Kiazyk and Bostock being confronted about the discrepancy, court heard.
Court also heard Kiazyk sent a series of texts and photos to his supervisor that night saying he and Bostock had searched the suite while officers were working to get a warrant and found a gun and drugs inside a suitcase.
Kiazyk testified those texts were a prank to try to rile up his supervisor and that he only went into the suite to use the bathroom — which he thought was allowed despite not having a warrant, because he was a police officer.
Kiazyk, right, walks into court in Winnipeg with his lawyer Mike Cook, left, Friday. (Kevin Nepitabo/CBC)
“He’s painted himself as a hapless jokester caught in the middle of a hurricane of coincidence and misunderstandings,” Crown attorney Adam Gingera told Court of King’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond.
“Const. Kiazyk did a lot more than he’s willing to admit to.”
Defence lawyer Mike Cook said while Kiazyk’s actions that night were “certainly ill-advised,” they weren’t criminal. He argued prosecutors fell short of proving that beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Kiazyk did not have an intention to commit the indictable offence of theft. He had the intention to relieve his bladder,” Cook said.
“I say you cannot take away a man’s career for being silly and taking photos.”
While prosecutors raised questions during cross-examination about why those texts referred to Kiazyk and Bostock as “we” when he testified they never went into the suite together, Cook said it was because Bostock was in on the joke Kiazyk was making.
“That’s what the reference is. Not that they’re partners in touching and stealing dope — it’s [that] they’re partners in pranking,” the lawyer said.
Police ended up seizing roughly $95,000 worth of fentanyl and $10,000 worth of cocaine from the Airbnb suite, but charges against a man arrested there were later stayed because of “delayed disclosure of the continuity issue in the suite,” court previously heard.
Bostock has already pleaded guilty in the incident. He was sentenced to seven years in prison earlier this year and removed from the force after admitting to a long list of offences involving corruption.
These photos shown to court were taken before and after officers left to get a search warrant on the night of the 2022 incident. (Court of King’s Bench)
Prosecutor Gingera argued Kiazyk’s explanations of his actions made “no sense,” accusing him of lying in his testimony and at times “making it up as he went along.”
He said Kiazyk’s evidence at times contradicted other evidence in the trial or common sense. That includes the “nonsensical understanding” Kiazyk thought he was allowed to enter the unit before a warrant was granted because it was a drug scene — as opposed to other types of police scenes he’d held, when he knew he was not permitted to enter.
“By any measure, the actions of Jonathan Kiazyk defiled his badge,” Gingera said.
“He may not have gone to work that day with an intention to do any of this. But when he was given an opportunity, he took it. He moved evidence, he stole from the crime scene he was supposed to guard, and then he covered it up.”
Bostock in one of the photos court heard Kiazyk sent his supervisor on the night in question. (Manitoba courts)
Cook also raised concerns about evidence from other officers who testified, who he said at times struggled to remember details about incidents and interactions with Kiazyk they did not record or take notes on.
Cook said the Crown’s strongest piece of evidence was likely the testimony of Const. Justin Ison. He had been on the job a few months at the time of the incident and told the trial this week both Kiazyk and Bostock later confessed to him they stole cannabis from the scene that night.Cook accused the junior officer of making up that story about Kiazyk to deflect blame from himself, arguing Ison was the one who took cannabis from Bostock — a suggestion prosecutor Gingera said made no sense.
“Why on Earth would coming forward as a witness to testify against a fellow officer take attention off of him?” Gingera asked.
“If that’s a plan to divert suspicion away from him, to avoid being asked questions, it’s the worst plan I’ve ever heard.”
Gingera also noted Kiazyk’s “striking” testimony that he accepted cannabis from Bostock after their shift that night, and that while he had concerns about where it came from, he took it anyway.
“He took it, and he couldn’t tell you why, other than ‘night shift brain,'” Gingera said.
Court heard Kiazyk has been on administrative leave without pay since his arrest. Judge Grammond reserved her decision in his trial until next month.