A court in Kerns dismissed the case against two police officers due to a flaw in the investigation
A district court in Cairns, Australia, has ordered a permanent stay of criminal proceedings against two senior Queensland Police constables—Andrew David Kuchmen and Ulrich Weiss. Judge Dean Morzon, KC, ruled that it was impossible to guarantee them a fair trial, according to ABC News Australia.
The officers were charged in connection with the alleged use of pepper spray, a stun gun, and physical restraint against 25-year-old Charlton Bonga at the Maribah police station in January 2024. The Queensland Police Ethics Standards Command investigated the incident and charged the officers with offenses including assault and unlawful detention.
The defense for Kuchmen and Weiss argued that the proceedings were compromised due to the way Bong’s sworn statement was drafted. As the court heard, Detective Senior Sergeant Kim Cavell drafted the statement on Bonga’s behalf, specifically including a paragraph stating that he had not consented to the use of a stun gun, pepper spray, or physical restraint.
During the pretrial hearing, it was established that Bong could not read or write, did not use such words, and did not understand the meaning of the word “consent.” The judge noted that Bong was the only witness capable of testifying in person regarding the central issue in the case. In the court’s view, the manner in which his testimony was obtained created a fundamental flaw that could not be remedied by any ruling or instruction from the judge during the trial.
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Morzon emphasized that the ruling does not contain a conclusion regarding the substance of the actions that were the subject of the charges and is not intended to punish or convict the investigator. At the same time, he concluded that continuing the proceedings would be unacceptably unfair to both defendants and incompatible with the proper conduct of the trial.
During the hearing in May, Bong said he heard voices telling him that the world was ending and ordering him to hit and spit on the police officers. The court also heard that after Bong was tasered, he was restrained and left alone in a padded cell face-down for more than two hours.
The trial, scheduled for next month, has been canceled, and Kuchmen and Weiss have been released on bail. Shane Prior, president of the Queensland Police Union, stated that he expects the officers to return to duty shortly, and that the court’s findings regarding the integrity of the investigation must be carefully reviewed.
