Pubdate: Wed, 05 Sep 2001 Source: Kitchener-Waterloo Record (CN ON) Copyright: 2001 Kitchener-Waterloo Record Contact: http://www.therecord.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225 Author: Francis Barrick ACQUITTED RCMP OFFICER NO LONGER A MEMBER OF FORCE A Kitchener RCMP officer acquitted in June of breach of trust is no longer a member of the force. Const. Donald (Gregory) MacPhee was scheduled to appear for an internal disciplinary hearing on Aug. 27, but the hearing was cancelled, said Sgt. Mike Mason of the RCMP's internal affairs branch. While federal privacy legislation prevents him from saying whether MacPhee has left the force, Mason said, "In general terms, any member who is no longer an employee of the RCMP is not answerable to the provisions of the RCMP Act and is not subject to a disciplinary hearing." Asked if MacPhee is still subject to a disciplinary hearing, Mason said he's not. But MacPhee's legal problems are far from over as the Crown is appealing his acquittal. In June, Justice Ron Sills acquitted the 26-year police veteran of breach of trust saying there was no evidence the officer was feeding his girlfriend confidential police information about a major drug investigation in which she was a suspect. The Crown is appealing that acquittal on grounds that the judge made errors in law in his legal interpretation of breach of trust. No date has been set for the hearing to be held at the Ontario Court of Appeal in Toronto. The 48-year-old officer had been suspended with pay since his arrest in April 1998. The breach of trust charge related to allegations that MacPhee made close to 190 queries on two police computer systems from Nov. 1, 1998, to April 21, 1999, which were not related to his job as a customs and excise officer. Most of the queries related to Operation Joanna, a major drug investigation launched by the RCMP in New Brunswick in November 1998. Some of the names MacPhee queried included his new girlfriend, Donna Leadbeater, who was a suspect in the drug investigation, and Pierre Daigle, a high-profile drug dealer who visited the Glace Bay, N.S., house Leadbeater shared with her then-husband Martin Marangoni. MacPhee's defence was he made the queries on the police computer files to ensure his girlfriend didn't have a checkered past that could compromise both the force and his position as a police officer. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth