Pubdate: Thu, 24 Nov 2005
Source: Mississauga News (CN ON)
Copyright: The Mississauga News 2005
Contact:  http://www.mississauganews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/268
Author: Louie Rosella

DRUG ARREST TAINTS PAST VERDICTS, LAWYERS SAY

Defense lawyers say verdicts concerning people who were arrested by a
Peel Regional Police officer now charged with trafficking cocaine are
tainted and they will probably move to re-open their cases.

At least three defense lawyers, two in Peel and one in Toronto, say
they're considering petitioning either the federal or provincial
justice ministries to have cases involving Const. Sheldon Cook, a
14-year veteran of the Peel police force, reviewed.

Cook, 38, an officer working out of Mississauga's 12 Division, is free
on bail but suspended with pay after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) charged him last weekend with possession of cocaine,
trafficking cocaine and breach of trust.

RCMP officers tracked a shipment from Pearson International Airport to
a home in Cambridge and discovered 15 kilograms of cocaine with a
street value of more than $500,000.

The allegations against Cook haven't been proven in
court.

Peel Police's Professional Standards Bureau will neither confirm nor
deny that current cases involving Cook are being reviewed.

David Humphrey, the lawyer representing former Toronto Argonaut
football player Orlando Bowen, said he has yet asked to have his
client's case re-opened.

Bowen, 30, pleaded not guilty to two charges of assaulting police
stemming from a March 26, 2004 incident in the parking lot of the
Locomotion strip club, on Eglinton Ave. E. near Dixie Rd.

The Crown alleges Bowen, who played four years in the Canadian
Football League, dropped a tiny bag containing 1.7 grams of cocaine
after he was arrested by Cook and Peel Const. Grant Gervais before
assaulting the officers with fists and an elbow while trying to escape.

Humphrey contends his client was searched without cause and assaulted
by the officers, who planted the cocaine to justify their action.

Justice Ford Clements is expected to render his decision on Jan.
31.

Humphrey said there is a provision in law that allows for a trial to
be re-opened this late in the game "based on fresh evidence."

During Bowen's trial, Humphrey asked Cook on the stand about past
allegations he had stole money from a man he had charged with a
drug-rrealted offence after making an illegal searched.

Cook denied the accusations.

The man's drug charge was dismissed in court. He then tried to file a
formal complaint against Cook, Humphrey alleged, but police ruled it
was too late to launch an action.
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