Court sees video of inmate's final hours in Manitoba jail on 1st day of corrections officer's trial
CBC
Footage of William Ahmo's final hours inside a Manitoba jail was shown in a Winnipeg courtroom Friday, during the start of a trial for a correctional officer facing charges in the man's death.
Robert Jeffrey Morden is charged with criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide necessities of life related to the death of Ahmo, 45, who was an inmate at Headingley Correctional Centre when he died more than two years ago.
Ahmo was at Headingley, a provincial jail about 20 kilometres west of Winnipeg, when an altercation took place in the evening of Feb. 7, 2021, RCMP said last year when Morden was charged.
Following a standoff between corrections officers and Ahmo in a common room at the jail, Ahmo was taken to hospital in medical distress. He died a week later.
Manitoba's chief medical examiner ruled Ahmo's death a homicide.
On Friday, court was shown more than two hours of video from Feb. 7, 2021.
In one video, Ahmo is seen pacing in a common area, appearing to be agitated. At one point he rips a water tank off the wall, causing a leak across the floor of the unit.
In the video, inmates can be heard being told to return to their cells. All complied except Ahmo, who was left alone in the main floor shared space.
In a second video, taken by an officer from behind a protective window, Ahmo is seen throwing objects at the glass, including a television. He also whipped the glass with a cord.
A nearby door was opened by correction centre staff and what appears to be pepper spray was used on Ahmo whenever he approached the door. Ahmo is seen repeatedly rubbing his eyes with towels, and officers can be heard coughing.
At one point, Ahmo returns to the office with a large metal item, and is seen trying to break the glass.
As the altercation escalated, crisis negotiator Michel Jolicoeur, who works for Manitoba Justice at Headingley, was brought in, the video shows.
Jolicoeur was the first witness to speak in court Friday. In the video, he is seen and heard trying to calm Ahmo down and asking him what happened. Ahmo says he was upset with how correctional officers treat inmates.
Ahmo then tells Jolicoeur about a racist joke that an officer told him. Ahmo, who was originally from Sagkeeng First Nation, says he felt disrespected.
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