Dale Culver case: RCMP officer convicted of obstruction requests stay [Video]

The lawyer for a B.C. RCMP officer convicted of obstruction for telling a witness to delete cellphone video following the violent 2017 arrest of Dale Culver has requested a stay of proceedings.

The B.C. Prosecution Service confirmed an application for the stay was filed on Aug. 16, weeks after Const. Arthur Dalman of the Prince George RCMP was found guilty of the criminal charge. 

Dalman’s counsel alleged several breaches under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including the officer’s right to be tried within a reasonable time.

Culver died shortly after being taken into RCMP custody, triggering an immediate investigation by B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office.

The watchdog filed a report to Crown counsel nearly three years later, in May 2020, with Ron MacDonald, who was then the IIO’s civilian director, blaming a lack of resources for the length of the investigation.

The BCPS approved charges against several officers nearly three years after that, in February …