Pubdate: Sat, 16 Feb 2008
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2008, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Sam Pazzano, Courts Bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

MANSLAUGHTER IN DOPER DEATH

Student Cleared Of Murder, But Guilty Of Lesser Charge

NEWMARKET -- A York U student and petty drug dealer who  chased and 
then drove over and dragged a bandit 31  metres to his death was 
acquitted of second-degree  murder and found guilty of manslaughter yesterday.

An emotional Shawn Plafker hugged his lawyer Darren  Sederoff after a 
jury returned its verdict in the Oct.  27, 2005, death of Sumit 
Kapoor. Kapoor, 22, and his  friends Adrian Brown and Robert Sirju 
tried to steal  the marijuana that Plafker planned to sell to them.

"It was a fair charge and a fair verdict. Justice has  occurred," 
Sederoff said in an interview. "There is no  mandatory minimum 
sentence for manslaughter. Sentences  can range from time served to 
life imprisonment."  Plafker, who has been in custody approximately 
18 months, will be sentenced March 18.

Kapoor "was already on the ground when Plafker's car  struck him" and 
there were "no impact marks on the  front of the vehicle," Sederoff said.

UNDER ATTACK

Sederoff told the jury that the killing wasn't  intentional "but a 
tragic accident" and his client  should be acquitted.

Kapoor's death, he said, resulted as a "panicked"  Plafker drove to 
escape the situation where he was  under attack by an armed 
assailant, Sirju, who  shattered his rear window with a metal pole. 
Plafker's car collided with Kapoor, who was grabbing on to the  car 
and was caught by his jacket underneath.

Crown attorneys Carmen Elmasry and Jennifer Gleitman  alleged that 
Plafker, 22, murdered Kapoor after he and  his pals stole his marijuana.

Plafker meant to kill him and his actions and words  backed that up, 
Elmasry said.

Brown, Kapoor and Plafker met in his Ford Taurus in a  Catholic 
elementary school lot on New Westminister  Drive.

After the drug robbery went awry, Brown and Kapoor  bolted and Brown 
raced to his own car and drove home,  court heard. Plafker pursued 
Kapoor in his Taurus.

The prosecution said Sirju threw the metal pole at  Plafker's 
vehicle, smashing the rear windshield, hoping  to stop Plafker as he 
drove with Kapoor's body being  dragged underneath it.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom