At Jackson abduction trial, questions raised about custody order

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When RCMP officers breached the door of a home in Carievale, SK on Nov. 26, 2021, they were looking for a man and his child.

The RCMP was in possession of a court order, and the officer who made the call to enter the home of Michael Gordon Jackson believed the order gave them authority to use any means necessary to seize the seven-year-old girl. When they searched the home, neither the man or his child were there.

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But was the order in effect?

Since Jackson’s trial began Monday in Regina’s Court of King’s Bench, a jury has heard two officers testify they believe it was. The jury has also heard the 55-year-old accused man, who is acting as his own lawyer, question their belief.

At the outset of the trial, Jackson pleaded not guilty to one count of what amounts to abduction in contravention of a custody order and is dated between Dec. 6, 2021 and Jan. 21, 2022. The trial continued Tuesday.

Crown prosecutor Zoey Kim-Zeggelaar told the jury it is her intention to demonstrate Jackson “spirited his daughter away,” and very much intended to do so.

Monday, the prosecutor asked Const. Derek Dyck why he entered Jackson’s home on Nov. 26.

He responded that entry was made in hopes of finding the child, and to “make her safe.”

Jackson later pressed Dyck, who said he couldn’t recall Jackson ever being arrested for harming his daughter previously.

Tuesday, court heard from Sgt. Warner Ignatiuk, who was Dyck’s supervisor at that time.

Under cross examination, he was asked about a report he wrote regarding the saga with Jackson, who was eventually arrested in Vernon B.C.

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Would the officer agree that, in his report, he stated numerous times that the child was in “no danger” whatsoever, Jackson asked.

“Based on the inquiries I was making, I would agree with that,” Ignatiuk said.

Court heard that, at some point, a stay was put on the court order that gave police authority to apprehend Jackson’s daughter, meaning the order was put on pause and was not in effect. But, precisely when the stay was issued, is yet unclear. Ignatiuk testified that following the stay he’d left a phone message for Jackson to open a line of communication with him and to provide reassurance.

In his questioning, Jackson put it to Ignatiuk that the message had included an assurance that police were aware of the stay and that they would not come to “bother him” as they awaited the outcome of a quickly-approaching court date.

However, police did visit on Dec. 1, 2021. Twice, according to Dyck, who stated RCMP heard locals had sighted Jackson in Carievale, so he and another officer attended the accused man’s home but did not locate him. He also testified RCMP dispatch received a call from Jackson indicating he was scared, hiding, and thought Carnduff RCMP officers were “up to something.” Police attended a second time, and ended up speaking to Jackson through a second-storey window, he said.

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While Jackson didn’t exit the home to speak with the officers, he did speak to Ignatiuk on the phone, court heard.

The sergeant testified he agreed to a show of faith between them that included assurance that police wouldn’t execute a warrant for Jackson’s arrest prior to a December 2021 court date that Jackson planned to attend.

He said Jackson later messaged him about the outcome of the court date (the stay on the court order was lifted, activating police authority to apprehend the child) and “forewarned” he and his daughter wouldn’t be home if police came looking.

When Ignaituk attended, the accused man and his daughter were nowhere to be found.

They were located in Vernon in February of 2022.

The trial is scheduled to continue Wednesday.

bharder@postmedia.com

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