Image Credit: FILE PHOTO

KAMLOOPS - Once more than eight hours of video footage is reviewed, a B.C. Supreme Court judge will need to determine if a former Mountie and hockey coach's statement to police is admissible in his trial.

Alan Davidson, now in his 60s, is charged with seven counts of indecent assault, stemming from several incidents roughly 30 years ago. Davidson was living in Clearwater in the 1970s, where he worked as an auxiliary RCMP officer and coached sports.

Part of Davidson’s eight-and-a-half-hour interview with RCMP Major Crime interviewer Sgt. Darren Carr was played in Kamloops Supreme Court yesterday, Sept. 19, as part of a voir dire hearing. A voir dire is a trial within a trial, to determine if certain evidence is admissible during the main trial.

The interview took place in Alberta on March 6, 2014, the same day Davidson was arrested.

In the beginning of the interview, Carr tells Davidson that the past had “essentially come back to haunt (him).” But Davidson wasn’t willing to speak, telling Carr he wouldn’t answer any questions and wouldn’t say anything unless his lawyer was present. Although Davidson remained quiet, Carr engaged in conversation with the man.

Carr let Davidson know he had been formally charged and that police had spoken with his family members about the charges he was facing.

“I really hope the person you were back then isn’t the person you are today,” Carr said in the video.

Carr explained B.C.’s charge approval system and told Davidson this would be a high-profile case and in the media. The alleged offences Davidson committed have had a long-lasting impact on the several complainants in this case, Carr said.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

He encouraged Davidson to be honest about the allegations he was facing, and told Davidson he understood he was in a difficult position.

“This is a day where you can be honest about who you are, who you were, and how you ended up in this chair,” Carr said. “Just because somebody has done something bad doesn’t make them a bad person.”

Davidson remained quiet through this portion of the video, and continued to do so when Carr brought up the name Graham James.

James is a former Western Hockey League coach who was convicted for sexually assaulting hockey players in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Carr said he brought up James and his victims to try and get Davidson to realize the impacts of his alleged actions. He spoke extensively about one of James’s victims, former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy, who wrote the book Why I Didn’t Say Anything, a memoir of the impacts James’s actions had on him.

Carr told Davidson in the interview that the eight people who had come forward accusing Davidson of sexual offences essentially had nothing to gain from coming forward with their allegations.

He discussed how it wouldn’t be proper for him to speculate on if Davidson would go to jail or for how long, or if he would lose his job as a result of the charges.

“I don’t want you to feel like your life is over,” Carr said. “You’ve got a bit of a rocky road ahead.”

Davidson did open up the conversation more when Carr asked him about his career, his family life and his life experiences.

Two complainants in the case, whose identities are protected by a mandatory court-ordered publication ban, testified last week, both stating Davidson engaged in sexual activity with them when they were around 14 or 15 years old.

There are still a few hours left of the video interview to be played in court and the footage is expected to resume on Thursday, Sept. 21.

Davidson is also facing charges in Saskatchewan, where he worked as a Mountie in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

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