The Braidwood Chronicles: the RCMP's Hail Mary pass

At almost the last moment of the Braidwood Inquiry, the RCMP has managed to dredge up a "forensic video analyst" from the US, Grant Fredericks, who claims that by counting pixels in the video frame-by-frame he can assert that Dziekanski was advancing towards the officers with a stapler in his hand when he was Tasered for the first time.

As the CBC's Terry Malewski reports, Justice Braidwood showed considerable impatience--in fact, to this observer, mounting irritation--with the testimony of this surprise witness, and Malewski himself, who has been covering the inquiry from the beginning, indicates considerable scepticism himself.

Here's the Dziekanski death video. Go to @3:50 and judge for yourselves. Do you believe this desperate last-minute pixel-counting--or your own lying eyes?

UPDATE: Under cross-examination by the lawyer for Poland, Don Rosenbloom,* Fredericks found himself unable to specify with any certainty whether Dziekanski was moving forward or downward. As I post this, a short break has been called. Probably just as well for Fredericks, who is showing signs of strain.

UPPERDATE: The Taser connection. [H/t commenter Frank Frink]

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*Name corrected, with thanks to commenter P. Kealy.