A Nanaimo RCMP constable has been acquitted of an assault charge.
Const. Tim Paul Mason faced a charge of assault causing bodily harm that stemmed from the arrest of a woman for public intoxication in December 2018.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. filed a report with the B.C. Prosecution Service in April 2020 that said its investigators had “determined that reasonable grounds exist to believe that an officer may have committed offences in relation to the alleged application of force by a police officer.”
Mason was accused of striking a woman, Emily Golobar, who had been celebrating her 19th birthday the night of the incident.
The woman was intoxicated and her friends had called police when they were concerned about her safety. Events led to her arrest for being intoxicated in public by Mason, who took her to Nanaimo RCMP detachment cells to sober up.
The woman was injured when Mason and another RCMP member were leading her to a cell down a narrow concrete hallway and the woman, allegedly, kicked Mason in an attempt to knock him off his feet. As the officers took the woman to the ground to gain control of her, she landed on her back and allegedly punched Mason in the chin to which he responded by striking her in the face, causing a cut near her left eye that required five stitches, and a fracture to her left orbital bone.
The altercation was recorded on the detachment’s security video and observed by other witnesses.
The charge was sworn against Mason in October 2020.
Mason was acquitted of the charge in provincial court in Nanaimo on Monday, May 9, according to B.C. Provincial Court records.
In his reasons for acquittal, judge Brian Harvey said, “this was a dynamic, unfolding situation where [the woman] had been belligerent, argumentative and was determined not to co-operate given she was refused an opportunity to phone her mother. I also find that this young, albeit fairly small, female complainant was highly motivated not to be held in custody. From the booking area of the Nanaimo RCMP detachment en route to cells, I accept [her] behaviour moved beyond passive and actively resistant to being clearly assaultive.”
Mason has served with the RCMP since 2009 and has served in Nanaimo since 2018. Harvey noted that Mason is a use-of- force trainer who has mentored other younger police officers throughout his career and has received several officer-in- charge awards. Harvey also said he found Mason’s credibility was not challenged in cross-examination.
“At no point did the accused embellish or exaggerate his evidence whilst testifying. Moreover, I found him to be a reliable and compelling witness when giving his explanations for his interactions with [the woman],” Harvey said. “I also accept the accused’s evidence that his instinctive and reflexive strike was not intended at any particular area on the complainant. nor was it intended to cause any harm to her … Mason’s actions were otherwise reasonable and proportionate in all the circumstances.”
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