Similarities emerge in testimony from Vancouver officers at Myles Gray inquest

Several patterns have emerged after the remaining fewVancouver police witnesses testified at a coroner's inquest into the death ofMylesGrayin August 2015.

The 14 officers who have testified so far have used the same language to describeGray's behaviour as police struggled to restrain him, and many told the inquest they were so focused on their own actions they don't have clear and complete recollections of what others were doing to restrain the 33-year-old.

Graydied shortly after a beating by several officers that left him with injuries, including a fractured eye socket, a crushed voice box and ruptured testicles.

At least five officers testified they followed a direction from their police union not to make handwritten notes in the hours afterGray's death.

All of them told the inquest they couldn't recall who the union's directive came from, although Det. Const. Nick Thompson testified last week that it was passed to him by a superior officer while he was still at the scene whereGraydied.

Const. Tiffany Tan testified on Monday that she has been in numerous "dynamic, abnormal'' situations working as an officer in the years sinceGray's death, and she has never been told not to make handwritten notes at any other time.

Const. Joshua Wong testified last week that a senior officer acting as a union representative told him not to make notes, a request he thought was "very odd.''

Const. Derek Cain and Det. Const. Beau Spencer also told the inquest that a police union representative told each of the officers not to make handwritten notes.

Const. Chris Bowater testified he did make handwritten notes at the time. He said he was assigned the responsibility of writing as much of a report as he could, and he stayed at the scene for about two hours afterGray's death.

Several of the officers said they didn't speak with each other about the particulars of the struggle withGrayin the hours after his death, while two others told the inquest there was some kind of peer-support discussion that evening.

Asked whether he debriefed with any of the other officers involved, Spencer testified Friday that he was "very familiar that we're not able to speak about specific circumstances, and each individual's recollection of the event.''

When the officers arrived at police headquarters, "there was actually very little talking, if any, about what each person had done,'' Spencer told the inquest.

A lawyer forGray's family, Ian Donaldson, also asked Wong last week whether he had spoken to any of the officers present that day by the time he uploaded his statement to the police database sometime in early 2016.

Not in relation to the events that day, Wong said.

However, Const. John Gravengard testified Monday that he and other officers he remembers seeing at the scene ofGray's death had talked about what they experienced and how they felt as they gathered at police headquarters.

Although most of the officers testified that they didn't speak to each other much,if at all, several of them have used the same terms to describeGray's behaviour.

They said he displayed "superhuman'' strength and appeared to be in an "animalistic'' state, sweating heavily and growling or yelling in an unintelligible way.

Spencer saidGraybegan to "buck'' the officer off him "like at a rodeo with a horse.''

Wong also told the inquestGraywas bucking like a horse as several officers struggled to pin him to the ground and handcuff him.

Two officers, Wong and Cain, also describedGray's strength, saying he tossed them like a "doll,'' despite the fact he wasn't standing up at the time.

By the timeGraywas handcuffed, most officers told the inquest they didn't notice any signs of injury besides redness in his face and possible body bruising.

However, Spencer testified thatGray's face had become progressively more swollen throughout the struggle, particularly around his orbital bones.

Grayhad been in Vancouver making a delivery to a florist's supply shop as part of his business on the Sunshine Coast. The initial 911 call was about an agitated man who sprayed a woman with a garden hose, the inquest has heard.

Cain, a former paramedic who said he performed first aid onGray, testified on Friday thatGray's symptoms suggested he was experiencing a condition called "excited delirium,'' describing it as a life-threatening medical emergency.

Several other officers, including Spencer, Thompson and Const. Kory Folkestadtestified using that same term to describeGray's behaviour.

Earlier in the inquest in Burnaby, B.C., Coroner Larry Marzinzik provided the jury with what he called a "cautionary note'' about the term excited delirium.

To his knowledge, Marzinzik said it's not recognized as a cause of death by most pathologists. The jury members should put less weight on the evidence of a layperson on the topic and would be hearing from a medical expert later, he said.

Personnel from the Burnaby fire department, B.C. Emergency Health Services, the Independent Investigations Office and others are set to testify later this week.

The jury won't be able to make findings of legal responsibility at the inquest but may make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.