Calgary Police Service Sgt. Andrew Harnett, 37, was killed during a routine traffic stop on December 31, 2020. Calgary Police Service

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The Calgary teenager whose flight from a traffic stop led to the death of a city police officer was acquitted Thursday of first-degree murder.

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Court of King’s Bench judge Anna Loparco ruled that while the teenager – who cannot be named because he was young at the time – intended to provoke Sgt. Andrew Harnett bodily harm while removing him from his vehicle, the Crown failed to prove a murderous intent. Sign up to receive daily news headlines from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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Instead, it found him guilty of murder. “The Crown established that the accused intended to provoke Sgt. Harnett bodily harm,” Loparco said near the end of her 2½-hour oral ruling. But he said the question was whether the defendant considered that death was likely to follow. Loparco dismissed much of the now 19-year-old’s testimony about his intentions during the fatal incident shortly before midnight on December 31, 2020. The defendant said he panicked when Harnett approached to give him a ticket for not turning on his headlights more than 30 minutes after he was pulled over near Falconridge Avenue. BA

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When he sped away, the officer grabbed the SUV and instead of following Harnett’s instructions to stop, the teenager sped down the road at speeds of between 80 and 90 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, the judge said. “A chaotic scene ensued,” Loparco said. “I accept that the chaos and panic that the defendant testified to continued and probably increased.” He noted that people, both his passengers and the officers at the scene, were yelling instructions at him to either stop or run away. “I accept that the defendant was scared and his anxiety was through the roof at the time,” Loparco found. “He may not have been thinking rationally about the fatal consequences that could result.” He said the chaos of the incident supported “his claim that he did not turn his mind to the potentially fatal consequences of his actions.”

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The judge said that even Harnett’s decision to keep the vehicle, even when it was temporarily stopped on a snowy rock before regaining traction and accelerating down the boulevard, illustrated the frenzied nature of what happened.

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“His decision to keep his vehicle … in my view reflects the chaos of the situation,” Loparco said. But he said that was not an indictment of the officer’s conduct as he was simply doing his job as a police officer. “Of course, it’s the accused, not the sergeant. Harnett, who chose not to stop the vehicle despite the officer’s repeated demands and instead took steps aimed at taking him away on a busy road at a high rate of speed,” he said. “The defendant is one who could have avoided the tragic situation and instead chose a course that resulted in death.” He said that while the perpetrator may have intended the deadly consequences of his actions, that was not enough. “More is required than proof that the defendant is probably guilty.”

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Prosecutor Mike Ewenson, who had earlier indicated his intention to seek an adult sentence, said he would continue to do so with the reduced charge. “This was not the verdict we expected,” Chief Mark Neufeld said in a statement Thursday night. “However, nothing that could have happened today would change the fact that we lost a friend, a colleague, a leader and, most importantly, Andrew’s loved ones lost a husband, a brother and a son.” Defense attorney Zachary Al-Khatib asked Loparco to order a pre-sentence report as well as an update on his client’s detention. A sentencing date will not be set until January 13, after the offender turns 20. Until then, he remains in custody. If convicted as an adult, he could face up to life in prison, although that is extremely rare in homicide cases. As a youth, his maximum sentence is three years in prison and community supervision together. Veteran and friend of Calgary police Sgt. Andrew Harnett Allan Hunter at Calgary Stadium in Calgary on Thursday, November 10, 2022. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia [email protected] On Twitter: @KMartinCourts

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