WINNIPEG (CBC) - The commissioner of the Taman Inquiry has ordered Winnipeg's police force to hand over internal documents related to a former officer involved in a crash that killed a Winnipeg woman in 2005.

The inquiry is examining the investigation that led to a conditional sentence for Derek Harvey-Zenk, an off-duty officer who, after an all-night party with colleagues, rear-ended a car driven by Crystal Taman, killing the 40-year-old mother of three.

Commission lawyer David Paciocco said a note Winnipeg police Chief Keith McCaskill referred to during his testimony at the inquiry last week has raised concerns that the force is withholding documents that may be relevant to the inquiry.

McCaskill had written the note about a meeting he had with Harvey-Zenk after the crash to discuss administrative leave and an upcoming suspension hearing.

Winnipeg police lawyer Shannon Hanlin told the inquiry Tuesday that the note was deemed administrative, not investigative, and is therefore not related to the inquiry.

But Paciocco argued that any and all documents related to Derek Harvey-Zenk after the crash should be submitted to the commission.

Hanlin said that may not be fair to the Winnipeg Police Service, but inquiry commissioner Roger Salhany told Hanlin to produce any and all documents related to Harvey-Zenk and the crash investigation, adding that he and Paciocco would decide if they are relevant.

More officers testify

The Winnipeg Police Service is under the microscope at the inquiry this week as officers who attended the party in the hours before the fatal crash are expected to take the stand.

One of the senior officers who was drinking with colleagues at a house party that night, Jim Anderson, described the event in testimony Tuesday as a responsible get-together with responsible people.

Anderson, who is a sergeant now, was a patrol sergeant at the time of the crash in February 2005.

When he learned that Harvey-Zenk, then a constable, had been involved in the crash that killed Taman, he told the inquiry, he and another officer, Sgt. Chris Humniski, came forward immediately to tell their superiors about the social events that night.

Anderson said he was upset and worried about the way the gathering at a Branigan's restaurant in Winnipeg and at the home of colleague Sean Black's house were being portrayed.

The events were being made out to be a "big bush party," he said - but although the group may have been loud at Branigan's, he characterized the party at Black's as a "small, respectful and low-key" gathering.

Anderson said he and Humniski wanted their bosses to know they had "nothing to hide" and the officers had done nothing wrong, "with the one obvious exception" of the crash.

Gathering described as 'innocuous'

Despite the testimony of Branigan's employees who described some officers as drunk, Anderson said the gathering was "uneventful" and "innocuous," and that the officers were "well-behaved," including Dave Harding, who admitted on the stand Tuesday morning that he had been intoxicated.

Anderson said he did not know how much alcohol Harvey-Zenk had consumed, nor how much any other officer at the gathering had drunk.

All of the officers who have testified have said they did not know how much Harvey-Zenk had had to drink that night. The officer who owned the home where the party was held testified Monday that he had thought Harvey-Zenk appeared tired, but not drunk.

Harvey-Zenk, also known as Derek Harveymordenzenk, was initially charged with refusing a breathalyzer test, impaired driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death, but those charges were dropped without explanation when he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death.

He received a conditional sentence of two years' house arrest and has since turned in his police badge.

Former Ontario judge Roger Salhany heads the inquiry. He is expected to issue his final report by the end of September.

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