VANCOUVER — A Vancouver court has heard that jail guards accused of tethering an aboriginal woman to a cell door have no memory of the alleged assault.
Bobbi O'Shea is suing the City of Vancouver and four police constables claiming that in 2008, guards bound her feet with a strap and pulled it hard under the door.
The civil trial began with a lawyer saying the accused constables don't recall the alleged incident, and as a result two will not testify.
Iain Dixon also says the city is not liable because the woman failed to make a report within two months, as is required by a law specific to Vancouver.
O'Shea's lawyer says his client has a reasonable excuse for missing the deadline, noting she became homeless and addicted to crack cocaine for about a year after the alleged assault.
Doug King contends she was placed in a leg restraint system after protesting observation by a male guard, and that she suffered lasting injuries and emotional trauma.
