Pubdate: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Page: A18 Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company Contact: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 Author: Colin Freeze DOWNTOWN POLICE SQUAD PROBED AS AT LEAST 115 DRUG CASES DROPPED A Toronto man accused by police of dealing large amounts of the illegal drug ecstasy has become the latest in a string of defendants to leave the courts without their guilt or innocence determined. Yesterday, an Ontario Superior Court judge found that there had been an unreasonable delay in bringing Roman Paryniuk's case to trial. The charges against him, first raised in March, 1999, were stayed as a result. Mr. Paryniuk's lawyer had used a novel defence in the case. He had argued that the charges took too long to come to trial, and that his client was entitled to police records about an investigation into allegations of corruption against some of the officers that worked on his case. The Crown has dropped at least 115 cases involving hundreds of drug suspects in the past few years, many of which involve officers who worked on the same Toronto Police downtown drug squad that is now being investigated. The federal Justice Department refuses to give an official explanation of why the cases have been dropped. The Globe and Mail requested internal Justice Department correspondence about the cases under access-to-information legislation. This week, a file was received that was almost entirely blanked out. The only words showing were e-mail subject headers such as "cases involving certain officers" or "suspect officers" or "police officers under charges or investigation." A high-ranking RCMP officer was called in last year to head an internal Toronto Poice probe. Mr. Paryniuk and his lawyer had unsuccessfully sought access to records from that internal investigation and from the Justice Department. In making an argument to get them, defence lawyer Edward Sapiano outlined 10 other cases involving people who had been accused of dealing drugs. The Crown dropped each case suddenly, without explanation. It came as a surprise to the suspects, especially to a jailed man who had pleaded guilty and was halfway through a drug sentence when told he was free. Several of these one-time suspects complained that they were mistreated by drug officers during investigations, and some have sued the Toronto Police Services Board. Statements of claim filed by these one-time suspects allege that large sums of money and other valuables were stolen from them during drug investigations. Several claim that thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of dollars in cash and valuables disappeared from bank safety-deposit boxes. Those allegations have never been proved, although one such claim was settled out of court in the spring. It's terms were not disclosed. A recent internal-affairs investigation by Toronto Police found no evidence to support allegations of theft made by one-time drug suspects. The separate probe of Toronto Police continues. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake