The Crown’s final eyewitness to the fatal arrest of Abdirahman Abdi was left “flabbergasted” on the witness stand after viewing video of the critical moments of the July 24, 2016 arrest that contradicted his own recollection.

Ross McGhie, a federal public servant who witnessed the arrest after jogging past the scene at 55 Hilda St. with his wife, told court he was “shocked and surprised” at the sight of Const. Daniel Montsion immediately and without warning delivering “five or six” haymakers to Abdi’s head while fellow officer Const. Dave Weir restrained the suspect’s arms.

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But after three days under cross-examination by Montsion’s defence lawyer Solomon Friedman, McGhie admitted some of the “impressions” he formed that day were incorrect, or were based on faulty information he observed from three different vantage points near the intersection of Wellington and Hilda streets.

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McGhie witnessed the arrest unfold with his wife, Wendy Dunford, who testified earlier at trial, and he was one of the first to offer a statement to Ottawa police on the scene.

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He relayed a similar version in a broadcast interview on CBC the day after, once Abdi had been declared dead in hospital, and again in a lengthier statement when he met on July 28, 2016 with the Special Investigations Unit.

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He gave a similar account when he testified last week as the prosecution’s final witness in the Crown’s manslaughter and assault case against Montsion before the floor was turned over to the defence to mount its case.

“I think obviously there are aspects of the statements I’ve made in certain places that have been demonstrated to me to be incorrect,” McGhie said at the close of his testimony Wednesday.

“It has certainly changed my impressions of the events of that day, and changed my impressions of the conduct of the officers that day.”

McGhie was led frame-by-frame through CCTV surveillance video of the arrest, showing Montsion’s cruiser pull up on the east side of Hilda Street just as Weir connects with a baton strike to Abdi’s thigh, with no apparent reaction. Abdi is seen turning to face Montsion — who is walking, not running — and Weir lands a kick to the upper thigh as Abdi is distracted, and follows through with a backhanded baton strike.

Abdi’s arms are not being held as McGhie described in his testimony, when he said he witnessed Weir “grappling” with Abdi at the moment Montsion “immediately ran across the street,” and told court that “Abdi was not able to dodge the blows because his hands were engaged.”

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He had told the SIU in 2016 that “Abdi was physically restrained (and) he was unable to block or avoid the blows,” and that Montsion came in punching, and “did not attempt to assist (Weir) in restraining Abdi.”

The video shows Abdi’s arms are free, however, and his right arm swings from Weir’s kick toward the approaching Montsion, who engages with Abdi and punches him with two left-handed jabs. Weir then moves in with another kick to the midsection and takes Abdi to the ground by the shoulder.

Court has already heard evidence that was Weir’s sixth attempt at restraining Abdi, and the first to involve Montsion.

“I am absolutely flabbergasted,” McGhie told court. “There are differences between what I recall and what I put in my statements and what I’m seeing in this video.”

After viewing the video, shot from the building lobby, McGhie told court, “My impressions would have been different if I had this vantage point.”

McGhie admitted he made mistakes when he spoke with Ottawa police, with the SIU, and with local media in the aftermath of the arrest, and acknowledged he repeated some of those same mistakes last week under questioning from Crown prosecutor Roger Shallow.

In a CBC interview the day after the arrest, McGhie said Abdi held a “foam pad” — identified in court as a 30-pound rubber construction weight — to “ward off” blows from Weir, and Abdi held it over his head to “deflect advances” by the officer.

“I don’t know what I’m referring to here,” McGhie testified Wednesday, somewhat befuddled on the witness stand as he reviewed a transcript of the interview, and acknowledging he saw Weir make no physical advances toward Abdi during the pursuit along Wellington Street West.

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He told the SIU he saw police make no attempt at medical assistance after Abdi stopped moving, but acknowledged in court he either didn’t see or had no recollection of the officers as they are seen on video putting Abdi into the recovery position, checking his pulse, and pressing gauze bandages to his face.

“I have been corrected. I am pleased. I prefer to know what actually happened,” McGhie said. “I hope further clarity can be provided through this process.”

Proceedings will now go on scheduled hiatus as the Crown’s case has completed evidence after five months of trial. Justice Robert Kelly will set a future date when Montsion’s defence is expected to begin calling its evidence.

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