THUNDER BAY – The second week of the trial for Staff Sgt. Michael Dimini, of the Thunder Bay Police Service, ended with the filing of an agreed statement of facts, outlining how Dimini accessed and edited the report of another officer.
Dimini is charged with breach of trust and obstruction in relation to an incident at a West Frederica Street apartment on Nov. 24, 2020.
Four police officers were dispatched to help keep the peace as Dimini’s then father-in-law had arranged to buy back a TV that had been stolen from his storage area.
The TV had been posted for sale online by a user named Derek Turner, who was wanted on outstanding warrants at the time.
On May 29, Const. Kerry Dunning testified he was one of the four officers dispatched to the call and a woman had answered the door and said she didn’t know the TV was stolen and offered to return it.
Dimini arrived at the scene shortly after, despite not being dispatched to the location.
Dunning and the three other responding officers all testified they didn’t feel police had grounds to enter the woman’s apartment and they all followed Dimini inside to look for Turner.
In his general occurrence report, Dunning made no mention of seeing Turner until they were inside the apartment.
An audit of his report in the computer system used by the Thunder Bay Police Service was produced on Thursday and filed as part of an exhibit on Friday. The audit shows Dimini accessed the report on Nov. 29, 2020, his first shift on duty since Turner’s arrest on Nov. 24, 2020.
Dunning’s report originally states that “Sergeant Dimini then advised that police were entering the residence, and all officers entered behind Sergeant Dimini.”
The audit shows Dimini made edits, fixing a typo and also changed the report to read “Sergeant Dimini then advised that police were entering the residenceas (sic) to check for wanted male Derek Turner, who was spotted walking down the stairs with the tv originally. All officers entered behind Sergeant Dimini.”
The agreed statement of facts also describes how once officer reports are approved, they are locked down and cannot be edited by constables. They can still be edited by anyone with the rank of sergeant or higher as well as individuals in the records department.
If a report is accessed or edited after being locked down, an audit of the system would show who accessed and edited it and when it happened.
Dunning’s report was locked on Nov. 25, 2020. Holding the rank of constable, he would not have been able to edit the report after that date.
The audit also shows that a staff sergeant created a "task" for Dimini in the computer system on Nov. 26, 2020 asking “if the female was in possession of the stolen property outside of the apartment what led to the entry inside, was more evidence inside or destruction of further evidence?”
The same staff sergeant also noted in the system that he didn’t see a report from the other officers advising that Turner was observed.
The system shows Dimini opened the task from the staff sergeant on Nov. 29, 2020, marked it complete and approved the completion.
The facts also state Staff Sgt. Gordon Snyder, from the police service’s professional standards bureau, began an internal investigation into Dimini.
Dimini was served with a notice of investigation on Nov. 30, 2020 and the four other officers involved were served notices of investigation as witnesses.
Snyder completed his report on Dec. 18, 2020 and concluded the allegations were unsubstantiated.
The trial is expected to continue on Monday.
None of the allegations against Dimini have been proven in court.
