Calgary police officer let mistress off drunk driving charge, ex-fiance says at trial

UPDATE addedJune 5, 2018:Mark McCulloughwasacquitted in June 2018after a judge found he had acted well within his discretion as a CPS officer during a check on welfare call.

A Calgary police constable refused to allow his mistress to be charged with drunk driving, according to his former fiancewho testified at the officer's trial Wednesday.

Mark McCullough, 44, is on trial for obstruction of justice and breach of trust, accused of helpingCaren Lileikisescape an impaired driving charge.

In November 2015, Lileikis was found slumped over the steering wheel of her running car in a parking lot in the southeast community of Cranston and police believed she was drunk.

It wasn't until a year later, during a hostile break-up, when McCullough'sformer fiancetold police her ex had helped a woman get offan impaired driving charge, which kicked off an anti-corruption investigation into the officer's actions.

• Calgary police officer charged with obstruction and breach of trust

The call came into 911 dispatch as a "check on welfare" and was changed to an impaired driving code once officers arrived on scene, according to evidence called by prosecutor Leah Boyd.

But after McCullough got involved, it was again changed, this time re-categorized as a suspended driving code a lesser offence and the officer called off CPS breath technicians.

The 911 dispatcher who took the call happened to be McCullough's then-fiance,Jessica Nelson, who testified on Wednesday.

McCullough told Nelson to call him so that their conversation wouldn't go over the radio for colleagues to hear.

"I'm not voicing anything over the air and I'm not putting anything on the system," McCulloughsaid toNelson.

In a conversation that was recorded from Nelson's desk line and played in court, McCullough then told his fiancethat he believed the suspected drunk driver was a key witness in "a big, big economic crimes investigation."

He said he was worried that if she was charged with impaired driving, it would affect her credibility at court as a witness. McCullough thentold Nelson not to type any of that information intoLileikis's file.

Bitter break-up

Earlier in the day, JudgeFrederick Fisher heard evidence from Det. Katherine Graham, who led the anti-corruption investigation into McCullough's actions. She testified there was no economic crimes investigation, rather the woman had witnessed a minor theft at a Home Depot months earlier and McCullough had taken a witness statement from her.

Nelson and McCullough dated from September 2013 to November 2016. They had a bitter break-up and custody battle.

McCullough was charged with assaulting Nelson at the end of their relationship but was acquitted after trial.

When Nelson went to police about the alleged domestic assault, she also disclosed that McCullough had once"let a friend off an impaired" charge.

Graham confirmed to defence lawyer Cory Wilson that despite looking for evidence of a relationship between McCullough andLileikis, she found none from September2015, when they met, to November 2015, when the officer is accused of obstructing justice.

Under cross-examination, Graham testified she was awareNelson was "very angry" with McCullough when she went to police.

The detective also said CPS officers have discretion when deciding whether to lay a criminal or traffic charge.

Evidence of sexual relationship

In September2016, towardthe end of her relationship with McCullough, Nelson said she found Facebook messages that had been sent to him from women includingLileikis which concerned her.

A week after she confronted McCullough, Nelson said she received Facebook messages fromLileikis: "Did he tell you about the oral sex," the first one read.

Then Lileikis said she wanted to apologize for her relationship with Nelson's fiance.

When Nelson confronted McCullough, he said the two were "just friends."

"I asked what else he'd done for her," said Nelson. "He said 'well there was that impaired, what are you supposed to do when you find a friend behind the wheel of a car? I had to take care of that.'"

Nelson said that McCullougheventually admitted he'd had a sexual relationship withLileikis that began when they met after the Home Depot theft in September2015.

But McCullough's lawyer questioned the timing of Nelson's disclosure to police. It was a year after the alleged drunk driving incident, during their toxic breakup, when she told investigators about it.

Nelson admitted she was angry with McCullough at the time, and Wilson suggested she was looking for a way to get back at him.

The trial is set for three days.