A man found guilty of obstructing the police in Alberta.
Adrin Johnson was charged guilty of obstructing police, under section 129 (a) of the criminal code.
Adrin Johnson was found guilty of obstruction under section 129(a) of the code. Johnson was stopped by the police for speeding on Aug. 27, 2022, on a major highway several kilometres east of Sherwood Park, Alta. He was asked to identify himself by the RCMP.
According to Const. Kornicki, Johnson’s behaviour was very unpredictable and aggressive. He intimidated the officer. There was a constant heated argument between Johnson and Const. Kornicki. Johnson was unhappy about the ticket because he believed that he shouldn’t have been pull over as others were speeding as well. He was going 136 km/h in a 110- speed zone based on the radar’s reading.
When asked to give his documents, Johnson refused to do so. He said he’d keep going. Based on Johnson’s aggressive behaviour Const. Kornicki decided it was best to approach Johnson when backup arrived. Johnson argued for about a minute and handed his documents to Const. Kornicki. Johnson was asked to wait in his car until backup arrived, meanwhile Const. Kornicki heard over the radio that Johnson had a history of threatening the police as a high-risk offender.
Const. Kornicki says into the radio back in his car that, “I am losing my marbles.”
Once the backup arrived, one of the officers asked if Johnson was armed or not. Const. Kornicki said, “Not that I know of.” The officers asked Johnson to come out. Johnson was asked to put his arms behind his back, but he just dropped his hands not obeying the order. To that point, Const. Dhami & Const. Starr had their guns drawn out. Johnson looked at the driver’s seat undecided about something, moved near window reaching out to something. Sensing threat, one of the constables pushed him to the ground and handcuffed Johnson. He was told before he was being arrested for obstructing the police.
Const. Kornicki testified that in his 14 years as an officer and doing 2,000 traffic stops a year, he had never seen behaviour like that. He even said the situation petrified him.
Based on the video evidence and other trial evidence, the judge ruled that Const. Kornicki’s action were justified. A. McClelland, the Crown Prosecutor agreed to what Const. Kornicki testified.
Johnson also argued that there was no evidence that proved he was guilty of his wrongdoing. Johnson’s lawyer, J. Mirasty also feels the same as Johnson.
Justice Thomas Achtymichuk working for the Alberta Court of Justice for all the reasons concluded that based on the evidence provided beyond a reasonable doubt that Johnson’s actions were wilful and an obstruction. He was guilty of obstruction under section 129 (a) of the code on May 25, 2023.