{"id":408835,"date":"2026-01-14T14:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/408835\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T14:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:43:10","slug":"n-l-supreme-court-dismisses-call-for-judicial-review-of-police-hearing-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/408835\/","title":{"rendered":"N.L. Supreme Court dismisses call for judicial review of police hearing decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 5 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

A Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court justice has dismissed an application requesting a review of a decision that cleared a former police officer of discreditable conduct.<\/p>\n

The ruling effectively ends a long battle by a Labrador man for police accountability.<\/p>\n

In his decision Dec. 23, Justice David Conway said his role was to determine whether or not a previous decision by Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Complaints Commission (RNCCC) chief adjudicator John Whelan was reasonable. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn this case I find the merits decision is transparent, intelligible and justified,” Conway said.<\/p>\n

“That is, I find the merits decision reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whelan found former RNC Const. Joe Smyth’s BlackBerry message to now-retired Sgt. Tim Buckle \u2014 in which he called a detained man a “loser” \u2014 was inapprorpiate, but did not amount to discreditable conduct.<\/p>\n

“To be clear \u2014 the respondent\u2019s commentary towards the complainant was not appropriate. The respondent admits as much,” Whelan wrote in his Jan. 16, 2025 decision.<\/p>\n

“However, I cannot conclude that the comments were significant enough to cause a credible risk to the reputation of the RNC.”<\/p>\n

The lawyer for the complaints commission made an application to Supreme Court five months later, seeking a judicial review of that decision.<\/p>\n

RNCPCC lawyer James Strickland argued that Whelan used the wrong legal framework and made contradictory findings in deciding the officer’s actions were not “conduct unbecoming.”<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Building in St. John’s. (Sarah Smellie\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

The decision by Conway closes the door on a protracted, complicated battle by Andrew Abbass to see accountability for two former officers he believes breached their duty. <\/p>\n

“It’s a mess of a process. I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody. And yeah, I definitely think it needs to be amended,” Abbass said in an interview with CBC News this week.<\/p>\n

“As an exercise in standing on principle, it’s been a frustrating, frustratingly long process.”<\/p>\n

Abbass filed a complaint with the commission, which hears public complaints about RNC officers, in 2017. <\/p>\n

Two years earlier, Abbass had been detained by members of the RNC while living in Corner Brook. <\/p>\n

In April 2015, Abbass was kept for six days at the hospital, allegedly\u00a0because of tweets he wrote in response to a fatal police shooting<\/a>\u00a0involving Smyth earlier that month. <\/p>\n

WATCH | A near decade-long police complaints process has come to an end in N.L. Supreme Court room:\"\"<\/p>\n

Supreme Court decision closes the door on lengthy police complaint<\/p>\n

A N.L. Supreme Court ruling has ended a process involving complaints against police officers that has been ongoing for years. It all stems from information that came out during the Don Dunphy inquiry nearly a decade ago, and comments two RNC officers made about a detained man. Ariana Kelland reports.<\/p>\n

“How about this Premier of N.L. I’m going to bring down Confederation and have politicians executed,” one of Abbass’s tweets said. “Ready to have me shot, coward?”<\/p>\n

The public inquiry held two years later into the shooting death of Don Dunphy revealed that Buckle texted Smyth to report that Abbass had been arrested.<\/p>\n

“He’s at hospital now,” Buckle wrote. <\/p>\n

“Loser,” Smyth responded. <\/p>\n

“Yup,” said Buckle. <\/p>\n

Abbass was never charged with a crime. Nor was he certified as suffering from any psychiatric condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a report, former RNC deputy chief Ed Oates called the detention a “serious and wrongful deprivation” of Abbass’s liberties<\/a> stemming from a police officer’s abuse of authority. <\/p>\n

Complaints against Buckle dismissed<\/p>\n

Abbass also filed a complaint against Buckle over his detention, but Whelan ruled in August 2024 that Abbass failed to file the complaint within the six-month timeline as set out in legislation governing the police system. <\/p>\n

Abbass only filed the complaint after learning of the messages between the two officers, two years after they were sent. <\/p>\n

“The facts of this case are concerning,” wrote Whalen. “The detention complainant alleges that an individual was detained by the state without cause. There is certainly a public interest in determining what factors led the RNC to the complainant’s door on April 7, 2015.”<\/p>\n

Abbass himself appealed that decision about the timeline to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. Justice Conway dismissed it on Oct. 30, 2025. <\/p>\n

Abbass also filed a complaint alleging Buckle breached RNC regulations by providing inaccurate or misleading evidence at the Dunphy inquiry, and for conduct unbecoming for the messages exchanged with Symth. <\/p>\n

Whelan rendered his decision last June. <\/p>\n

As in the case of Smyth, Whelan concluded that Buckle\u2019s text exchange with Smyth was inappropriate, but did not rise to the level of disreputable conduct. <\/p>\n

Whelan determined Buckle was neither untruthful nor negligent when he testified at the inquiry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-408835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}