Steve Mesic inquest explores 41 decisive and fatal seconds

In his closing questions before Hamilton Police Const. Michael McLellan left the stand at the inquest into the death of a man he shot, Steve Mesic, lawyer Carr Hatch posed ascenario.

Hatch asked how could a man with five hollow-point bullets in his chest and one in his back walk 30 feet with a shovel in his hands before he died, while a police constable stood in one spot instead of attempting to tackle Mesic, because he was afraid to trip.

"Could I have (moved)? Possibility. Did I? No," said McLellan.

"I justify that reason for my own safety."

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McLellan'stestimony came on the fourth day into the coroner's inquest into the death ofMesic who, last June,walked out of a psychiatric ward of St. Joseph's Hospital and attempted to step headlong into traffic twice before being killed by police while wielding a shovel in a field nearhis Mountain home.

'He was trying to get us to kill him'

Also on the stand Thursday was the forensic pathologist who performed a postmortem onMesic, finding five of six bullets that hit him were each fatal wounds, and the EMS worker who told the inquest the garden shovel found five feet north ofMesic'sbody seemed "unusual."

But it was the same spade thatMcLellansaid could have killed him if he attempted to use non-lethal force onMesicas he crawled under a chain link fence to get closer to the officers.

In hindsight, without a doubt he was trying to get us to kill him.- Const. MichaelMcLellan

"Without a doubt I would have been hurt pretty badly,"McLellansaid of the possibility of him falling in the thick bush behindMesic'smountain home. "It would not have ended well for myself."

He also didn't doubt whatMesic'sintentions were when police confronted him after they followed him into the dense brush.

"In hindsight, without a doubt he was trying to get us to kill him,"McLellansaid.

An unusual start

McLellantook the stand Thursday after a brief delay at the start of the day. Regional coroner Dr. JackStanboroughaddressed the court before the day started holding a note that was taped to the jury's door with a question, however he never read the note in court.

To start Thursday's testimony, Hatch, counsel forMesic'sfiancee SharonDorr, questioned whyMcLellandidn't use pepper spray while the chain link fence separated him and Cons. Kevin Farrell fromMesic.

He also questioned why no shots struckMesicin the left bicep that would have been across his chest if he did indeed have a shovel cocked like a baseball bat ready to swing at the officers

And he also asked whyMesic'sright hand had part of his middle finger shot off, evidenced by the bullet-sized hole missing on his right middle finger, supposedly on a shovel that had no damage to it.

Time from guns drawn to shots fired:41 seconds

"What happened in between felt like a very short period of time,"McLellansaid of the time gap established by the radio calls he made with dispatch. "But we know its 41 seconds. That's all I can say."

Those 41 seconds are from whenMcLellanradioed they were making a "gun point arrest" to when he radioed "shots fired."

In that time,McLellanand Cons. Kevin Farrell, who fired four shots intoMesic, told the inquest they did not have time nor safe enough footing to de-escalate from using lethal force onMesic, who had been voluntarily staying at a mental health ward of St. Joe's- before leaving that morning.

Carr pepperedMcLellanwith questions related to time how long it tookMesicto get to the fence, climb under it and walk eight feet to whereMcLellanand Farrell were when they opened fire.

The Hamilton constable said he couldn't recall the times of each event, agreeing to having some "tunnel vision" while the event unfolded.

McLellanalso said that attempting to pepper spray and tackleMesicin the wooded berm besideMesic'shome, which backed onto the Lincoln Alexander Parkway near UpperWentworth, was never "not an option for me."

McLellansaid that the best option for him was the "stand your ground and hope (Mesic) comes out of that trance."

Mesic could have walked after being shot: Expert

Dr. JohnFernandes, a veteran pathologist who has completed more than 3,500postmortems, said the bullet that went throughMesic'sfinger could have been from multiple possibilities.

While he did determine the bullet entered the nail side of the hand and went out the palm side, it could have been a fragment from a bullet that grazedMesic'schest.

He also said that since the damage was limited toMesic'schest and organs and not his walking muscles in his legs, buttocks and back, walking for ten seconds after being shot six times wasa possibility.

"It would not have been a great distance,"Fernandestold the inquest. "The more difficult the terrain the more likely the distance would be shorter."

Hamilton EMS staffer John Finch said he when he arrived on the scene, he saw Mesic with his shirt cut open with his hands behind his back and a shovel five feet north of the body.

"There was a small garden spade," Finch said. "It appeared to be an unusual object. It didn't belong in that scene... It just didn't make any sense."

The 10-day inquest resumes Friday.