Hearing counsel Brock Martland asked Birzneck about scenarios where a member of the public may be legally allowed to resist police use of force if the "police contact is unlawful," but Birzneck says he believed Gray was "arrestable" at the time of the encounter.
Birzneck is one of seven officers involved in the fatal altercation with Gray who are named as respondents in the public hearing, called to determine whether the officers committed misconduct under the Police Act.
He is the first to testify, telling the hearing this week that Gray displayed incredible strength and appeared "impervious to pain" as officers tried to subdue him near the boundary between Burnaby and Vancouver on Aug. 13, 2015.
No charges have been laid over Gray's death, which a 2023 coroner's inquest ruled was a homicide, a term that does not assign legal blame.
The commissioner's notice of public hearing says an earlier disciplinary process had dismissed the misconduct allegations, but the discipline authority found the process "strangely lopsided" and had to decide the case despite "discrepancies and inconsistencies in statements made by VPD members."
The inquest heard that Gray was left with injuries that included a fractured eye socket, a crushed voice box and ruptured testicles, while a paramedic told the inquest that Gray's bruising was so severe, he initially thought he was not a white man.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.
By Darryl Greer | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
