Brutality Canada

from the The Ottawa Citizen
Saturday 22 July 2000

Ontario force to probe death in Nova Scotia jail cell

Ottawa man's sister wants to know why police failed to offer medical help

Carrie Buchanan
 
After two calls were made to 911 because James Guy Bailey Jr., was in need of medical help, police arrested Mr. Bailey for 'intoxication'. While in jail in Sydney, Mr. Bailey died. His sister, Paula, wants to know what happened.

Ontario Provincial Police will conduct an investigation into the death of an Ottawa man in a Cape Breton jail in May, the Nova Scotia justice ministry has announced.

James Guy Bailey Jr., 28, died in a Sydney jail cell May 17, a few hours after two calls were made to 911 for medical help when Mr. Bailey became incoherent after taking drugs.

Earlier this month, the ministry had recommended an external police organization investigate the Cape Breton Regional Police handling of the case.

An OPP spokesman confirmed that Det. Insp. Donald MacNeil and Det. Staff Sgt. Mark Van Zant, of the Orillia criminal investigation branch, and Det. Const. Shawn Evans of the Tecumseh branch, near Barrie, are reviewing documents sent to them by the ministry.

Supt. Rick Kotwa said the men have worked on investigations together.

"At some point they'll head down there" to interview those who might have information on the case and review all aspects of the case, he said.

The team will have the assistance of Halifax Regional Police and access to technical services from the RCMP.

Paula Bailey, of Ottawa, says that instead of medical help, her brother, who had lived in Ottawa since 1998 and was supposed to return for a drug rehabilitation program in June, was arrested for "intoxication" and put into jail. He died later the same night.

Cape Breton Regional Police Insp. Bob MacLean has said police arrested Mr. Bailey in response to a call reporting a man staggering on the street near a Bailey family member's home.

Paula Bailey said no ambulance ever arrived in response to the 911 calls.

Ms. Bailey filed a complaint with the justice ministry and asked for an investigation into events surrounding her brother's death. She wanted a probe into their failure to get the medical help she asked for in a 911 call, plus a second call placed to 911 the same evening by another family member.

A toxicology report done as part of the postmortem showed Mr. Bailey had no alcohol in his system, but did have a toxic mix of nine different drugs. The full autopsy, including the cause of death, has not been released.

Ms. Bailey was in Nova Scotia this week visiting her family. The family home, where she and her brother grew up, and where her brother was visiting when he died, is in Sydney Mines.

Ms. Bailey had hoped to view a videotape of her brother's final hours in jail on her trip to Cape Breton.

And while she's pleased the ministry has announced the OPP investigation, she's unhappy that Cape Breton police say they won't release the videotape until the OPP investigation is complete.

The videotape was taken by a camera set up to monitor prisoners. Ms. Bailey said Cape Breton police promised soon after Mr. Bailey's death that the family would be allowed to see it.

"I came home thinking we'd be getting to see the tapes," she said Thursday in a telephone interview from Cape Breton.

But George Lahey, an official with the Nova Scotia Ministry of Justice, Police and Public Safety, told the Bailey family in a meeting earlier in the week that Cape Breton police were refusing to release the tapes until all the investigations are complete.

"I'm actually starting to wonder now, why the police department are denying us the right to view my brother's last few hours," Ms. Bailey said. "What else are they trying to hide from us?"

However, Supt. Kotwa said the tape would be considered evidence and, as such, would not be released to anyone until after the OPP team concludes its investigation and sends its report to the justice ministry.

"It's not a case of hiding anything."

While not a common occurrence, Supt. Kotwa said, the OPP's "excellent reputation" has brought requests for force members to conduct independent investigations of cases outside the province from time to time.

Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law.

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