Autopsy could not determine inmate Derek Whalen's cause of death, inquest hears

The doctor who completed Derek James Whalen's autopsy said she wasn't able to determine his cause of death because Whalen was obscured in surveillance videos showing the minutes before he became unresponsive in a Shediac jail cell.

Whalen, 37, was pronounced dead the night of May 3, 2020, at the Moncton Hospital while in custody of theSoutheast Regional Correctional Centre.

OnWednesday, the third day of the inquest into Whalen's death, toxicologistDr. Graham Jonestestified that theamount of methamphetamine in Whalen's blood at the time could have caused sudden cardiac arrest, even if he had not been restrained.

But the doctor who performed the autopsy, Dr. Angela Miller, said she couldn't becertain. She testified at the inquest in Saint John that shereviewed security footage of the incident in the detention centre.

In one video, Millersaid, shecanclearly see Whalen shackled, lyingon the floor of the cell and moving. Then, correctionalofficers enter the cell, some wearing helmets and carrying shields.

At that point, she said, Whalen becomesobscured among the guards. When the officers begin to filter out, Whalen becomes visible again, and he's not moving.

"The problem is that I don't know if the restraints and the individuals around him had something to do with [his being unresponsive]," Miller said.

"So at the end of the day, I'm not comfortable attributing his cause of death to only the methamphetamine."

Miller also said that she found no injuries that could have contributed to Whalen's death.

Toxicologist suggests drug role

Earlier, Jones, the former chief toxicologist in Alberta's medical examiner's office, testified aboutwhat he called "the elephant in the room in this particular case," which was Whalen's drug use on the day of his death.

Jones wasasked by the coroner to review the toxicology report and share his findings.

Jonessaid Whalen's bloodstream contained an amount of methamphetamine that was 50 times higher than a standard medical dose used back when the drug was prescribedin Canada.

He said it's possible that someone could survive ingestingthat dose, butsuch an amount could also be listed as a cause of death on its own if there were no other apparent factors, Jones said.

The high dose of methamphetamine and the circumstances under which Whalen took that dose could have caused his body to produce a large amount of adrenalin that overwhelmed the heart and cause sudden cardiac arrest, he said.

The coroner and a five-person jury have heard from correctional officers who said Whalen suddenly became violent and had to be restrained before he became unresponsive.

One of those officers, Sgt. Garlene Somerton,testified that during the incidentshe found a folded paper with a substance on it she now believes was crystal meth.

Officers had trouble locating equipment

SusanEvans, who investigated the incident for the enforcement section of the Department of Justice and Public safety, testified she developed recommendations for the detention centre based on her findings.

Evans said she found issues with the response from an equipment-management standpoint.

In the initial response to Whalen becoming unresponsive, a defibrillator was brought into the cell, but it was missing pads, which need tobe placed on the unresponsive person.

Another defibrillator was found without a significant delay, Evans said, but she did not say exactly how much time passed. Officers reported it was difficult to locate the machine.

Evans testified it took officers 41 minutes to locate a spit mask to place on Whalen, which witnesses testified was needed because he was spitting blood at officers. The delay happened because officers were unsure where to find the mask, Evans said.

She also noticed that there was no process for signing such equipment in and out.

In her report, Evans recommended that there be a more robust equipment policy to keep track of things.She said she also made a recommendation regarding the use of hand-held video cameras, which are supposed to bepresent at every disturbance, but were not working in this instance.

John Cann, the superintendent of theSoutheast Regional Correctional Centre, said those recommendations and others made by Evanshave been implemented.