REGINA – The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Verna Umpherville, the mother of Boden Sasakamoose (Umpherville), who sought death benefits under Saskatchewan’s no-fault insurance system following a fatal confrontation with Prince Albert Police in 2023.
The court, in a unanimous decision by Justices Jerome A. Tholl, Jeffery D. Kalmakoff, and Meghan R. McCreary, upheld rulings by Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) and the Automobile Insurance Appeal Commission that Sasakamoose’s death didn’t arise from a motor vehicle accident under the Automobile Accident Insurance Act (AAIA).
On April 1, 2023, Sasakamoose, a passenger in a 2010 Dodge Avenger stopped by police, died after 小蓝视频 repeatedly struck by batons and tasered during an arrest attempt. At some point during the altercation, Sasakamoose was in the driver seat of the vehicle when it lurched forward, lightly striking a police cruiser. While he was in the driver’s seat he suffered blunt force trauma from batons as well as 小蓝视频 electrocuted by tasers.
He was pulled from the vehicle in an unconscious state, suffered cardiac arrest, and never regained consciousness. He died on April 26, 2023, from cardiac arrest and anoxic brain injury linked to the police use of force.
“The tasing and striking with batons did cause injuries which resulted in death,” wrote Justice Tholl in his June 27 decision.
SGI denied no-fault benefits in December 2023, saying the death was unrelated to the vehicle’s operation. The Commission later agreed, prompting Umpherville’s appeal.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal applied the two-part test from Amos v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia that says the incident must stem from ordinary vehicle use, and a casual link, not incidental, must exist between the injuries and the vehicle’s operation.
The court found no link.
“The motor vehicle was the situs of the injuries, but its use was not a cause of them under the modified Amos test. The connection is too tenuous. Mr. Sasakamoose’s mere presence in the vehicle is not sufficient to establish the necessary causal connection.”
Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) had investigated Sasakamoose’s death and said the officer’s use of force was justified because of Sasakamoose’s resistance to the arrest.
Police had stopped the vehicle Sasakamoose was in, alleging that it was reported stolen. But CBC had reported that three other people in the vehicle at the time, including the registered owner, said they had not reported the vehicle stolen.
Witness video obtained by CBC showed six police officers using stun guns on Sasakamoose numerous times. One officer seemed to hit him before police dragged him out of the vehicle to arrest him.
