Inquest witnesses elaborate on Chantel Moore's blood-alcohol content, 4 bullet wounds
Moore's blood-alcohol content was 'not that high' when she was shot by police officer
A private investigator hired by the New Brunswick Police Commission says Chantel Moore would have been "very capable" of taking a knife and going after Const. Jeremy Son, in terms of her level of intoxication on the morning of June 4, 2020, when he fatally shot her on a balcony outside her apartment door.
Jean-Rene Levesque testified Wednesday afternoon on the third day of a coroner's inquest into the 26-year-old Nuu-chah-nulth woman's death at the hands of the Edmundston, N.B., city police officer.
Son had been dispatched to her apartment to check on her after her ex-boyfriend received messages from her that made him worry someone else was in her apartment and she was in danger.
Levesque was hired to look into complaints, filed by Moore's family against Son in August 2020, that he didn't use sound judgment with his firearm, abused his authority, neglected his duty, and acted in a discreditable manner among other violations of the Police Act. Levesque said he found no evidence to support the complaints.
Levesque cited use-of-force expert Tim Belliveau, who concluded the situation unfolded rapidly from passive behaviour to aggressive behaviour that could cause grievous bodily harm or death.
What Son did, in discharging his firearm, he said, was reasonable.
Levesque also testified he conducted reenactments at Moore's apartment. He doesn't think Moore would have been able to see Son was a police officer once she opened her door because Son's flashlight would have been shining too brightly in her eyes.
From inside, however, his police logo would have been easily visible, he said, because of light reflected from the window.
As to whether Moore would have understood Son's command to drop the knife, Levesque testified that her understanding of French was minimal.
According to Quebec independent investigators, his command was given in a mix of French and English, as, "Drop le couteau."
Toxicologist James Wigmore testified earlier in the day that Moore wasn't severely impaired by alcohol at the time of her death, but her information processing would have been slowed.
Jurors asked whether she would have been able to process Son's command in a matter of a few seconds when she came out the door toward him.
Wigmore said her level of intoxication would not have made a significant difference to her reaction time.
A sample of blood from a vein in Moore's leg had an alcohol content of 136 mg per 100 ml, he said.
This would be like having seven one-ounce drinks or five bottles of beer, said Wigmore. It was more than the legal limit for driving, 80 mg, he noted, but "not that high" for an "experienced drinker."
Slurring or staggering would not be expected, he said, but her information processing would be somewhat slowed and impaired.
When she was awakened, she would have been groggy, as if waking up from a deep sleep, he said.
And since alcohol induces tunnel vision, said Wigmore, Moore's attention would have been narrow.
She could have been focusing on the flashlight — Const. Jeremy Son said he was shining one into her apartment and onto his police uniform — and not aware what was happening on the periphery, he said.
The toxicologist also testified that Moore had been sobering up for some time. A urine sample indicated she was at an alcohol concentration of 202 mg sometime prior to her death, he said.
4 bullet wounds
The inquest also heard Wednesday morning from the pathologist who did Moore's autopsy.
Dr. Marek Godlewski said Moore died of gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.
Godlewski said Moore was close to five feet eight inches tall and weighed about 190 pounds.
She suffered four bullet wounds. The one that was most likely fatal, he said, penetrated her upper left chest where the collarbone meets the sternum.
The bullet entered from the front at a downward angle, he said. A bead from a necklace she was wearing was also found embedded in her skin, he noted.
Another bullet entered her front right abdomen and was removed from near the 11th and 12th thoracic vertebrae.
She also had wounds from bullets that went through her liver and lower leg.
Moore's mother had to be escorted from the conference room a couple of times during the testimony.
The proceedings were halted during one of these times to give her time to recover and return.
The pathologist also said he found very minor bruises on Moore's arm that may have happened any time in the day or two leading up to her death.
No conclusion on how close officer was
An investigator with the Quebec independent investigation bureau, Francois Coiteau, said gunpowder residue was not found on Moore's clothing.
In lab testing, he said, the type of weapon fired by officer Son left residue when within 1.5 metres of a target.
But he wouldn't draw a conclusion about how close Son was to Moore when the shots were fired, saying it wasn't his area of expertise and other factors could come into play in a real-life setting, such as wind.
He said unidentifiable partial fingerprints were found on the knife that could indicate someone holding it by the handle in their right hand.
Coiteau said Moore's case was the first time his agency was called to investigate in another province.
He said by the time they were called in, the RCMP had already collected some evidence. He said their work was "excellent," and the handover was smooth.
Testimony is expected to wrap up Thursday morning with an expert on police use of force. The jury will then have three hours to deliberate on the cause of of death and come up with recommendations.