Fredericton, RCMP sued by fired Fredericton police officer

Former Fredericton police officer Jeff Smiley and his common-law wife KimBurnett have made a series ofallegations against Fredericton police and the RCMP in a civil suit filed against the City of Fredericton and the Attorney General of Canada.

The allegations includeobstruction of justice,negligence in an investigation against Smiley, perjury and false imprisonment.

• Const. Jeff Smiley dismissed from Fredericton Police Force

The statement of claim also allegesthat Fredericton Police Chief Leanne Fitch offered Smiley $80,000 last year to voluntarily resign from the force. The court filing, submitted by Halifaxlawyer BarryMason,says the alleged offer amounted to extortion.

Chief Leanne Fitch declined to comment onspecific details of the allegations made against herforce and her officers, saying that she has not been served with the legal documents.

When Fitch was askedabout the allegation made against her,she did speak in general terms about thesettlement process available to police forces.

"There's a process that is laid out under the Police Act for a settlement conference and through to arbitration, and those processes are laid out in the Police Act," said Fitch.

"Anything can happen in a settlement conference, from a member agreeing to retireup to and including corrective and disciplinary action, but those are privatediscussions that aren't open forthe public."

None of the allegations hasbeen proven in court.

Arbitration ruling

In December 2015, an arbitrator ordered that Smiley be dismissed from the Fredericton Police Force over four counts of breaching professional conduct standards for police officers.

The ruling came after Fitch initiated a domestic assault investigation against Smiley, stemming from an alleged incident involving Burnett in February 2014.

The assault charge against Smiley was later dropped by the Crown because of a jurisdictional issue, as the alleged assaults described in a subsequent interview happened in Nova Scotia, not New Brunswick.

That assault simply did not happen.- Barry Mason, lawyer for Jeff Smiley

Smiley directed CBC News tospeak with Mason his behalf.

"That assault simply did not happen," said Mason.

"What flowed fromthis, these charges that were laid, were of tremendous impact on both Mr. Smiley and Ms. Burnettin terms of the fallout, in terms of Mr. Smiley's career, and the stress and anxiety that this negligent investigation that was done by the police force.

"This action isn't being filed lightly," said Mason.

Perjury alleged

In the statement of claim, Burnett alleges Fredericton police breached her Charter rights by locking her in an interview room after the alleged assault, constituting false imprisonment and arbitrary detention.

The statement also accuses Fredericton police and specific officers of perjury, obstruction of justice, wilfully misleading the Crown, falsifying a police report, negligence and abuse of process,constitutingmisfeasance in public office.

Smiley and Burnett also accuse the RCMP of improperly investigating the alleged assault when they took over the investigation, and of illegally seizing items from Smiley, including firearms.

They also accuse members of the RCMP of perjury andobstruction of justice, constitutingmisfeasance in public office.

Burnett says she was threatened and intimidated by an RCMP officer after she denied she had been assaulted by Smiley.

In a statement to CBC News, RCMP Const. Jullie Rogers-Marsh said "It would be inappropriate to comment on matters that are before the courts."