Pubdate: Fri, 10 Feb 2012
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Betsy Powell

PEEL DRUG COPS TOLD CALCULATED LIES IN COURT, JUDGE SAYS

Peel Region Police say they are conducting an internal investigation
after a judge's damning words about the "reprehensible" conduct of
members of their drug squad. But critics are skeptical anything will
be done.

"The police lied under oath in order to cover up (an) illegal search
and persisted in their lying when confronted with the most damning of
evidence. All these misdeeds were calculated, deliberate and utterly
avoidable," Superior Court Justice Deena Baltman said Friday in a
Brampton courtroom, reading out her reasons for sparing a baby-faced
cocaine dealer a prison sentence.

"The police showed contempt not just for the basic rights of every
accused but for the sanctity of a courtroom," said Baltman, referring
to four officers from the force's drug and vice unit, who are involved
in a multitude of other narcotics cases in Peel.

If perjury charges are laid and the officers convicted, then all
investigations would probably be tainted and charges stayed, legal
observers say.

But defence lawyer Leora Shemesh says previous judicial findings of
misconduct by Peel police have been ignored and she doubts this case
will be different.

"Since last September, Internal Affairs has had a formal finding from
a Superior Court judge who concluded the officers' conduct was
reprehensible and should be addressed," Shemesh said.

"Nothing has happened. No charges have been laid and internal affairs
appears to be asleep at the wheel."

Shemesh represented Tan-Hung Dinh. On Friday, the 28-year-old avoided
prison after Baltman found Peel officers beat him, searched his home
illegally and then came to court and lied about it.

After a pre-trial Charter motion ruling released last September,
Baltman cited police misconduct as the reason for excluding all
evidence seized from Dinh's home, including two kilograms of cocaine,
an ecstasy press and 2,000 grams of ecstasy.

The officers involved "essentially colluded and then committed
perjury, en masse. This must be addressed in a concrete way," she
wrote in her 38-page decision of Sept. 28.

A publication ban covering the ruling was lifted Friday after Dinh
pleaded guilty to a remaining charge of trafficking nearly a kilo of
cocaine found in the trunk of his car.

Minutes after Baltman spoke, Peel Police Chief Mike Metcalf issued a
statement saying he ordered an internal investigation after learning
of Baltman's comments last fall.

"Allegations made against members of this service are taken seriously
and will be investigated thoroughly," he said.

The officers remain on active duty pending completion of the
investigation.

Two Peel internal investigators were in the court Friday. They refused
to acknowledge who they were or make any comment when approached by a
Star reporter.

Baltman said she was deviating from a prison sentence range of five to
eight years typical for trafficking in that amount of drugs because of
the "serious police misconduct involved."

She sentenced Dinh to a two-year conditional sentence, with the first
half to be served under house arrest.

Prosecutor Surinder Aujula, who told court "significant factors can be
found for a (sentence) reduction in this case," asked for a two-year
custodial sentence but said the Crown was not opposed to two years
less one day, allowing for a conditional sentence.

Dinh has been living under strict house arrest without any breaches
since he was released Sept. 11, 2009, Baltman noted. The automotive
technician has no criminal record, has strong family support and
appears to have been drawn into a drug subculture.

He admitted to brokering a cocaine deal on Sept. 9, 2009, when he was
duped into meeting Const. Ian Dann, posing as a customer, at a Super 5
motel room in Mississauga.

Dann, along with constables Jason Hobson, Jay Kirkpatrick and Steve
Roy, were inside the room. Other officers set up surveillance outside.

Dinh arrived in the parking lot, walked to the room and knocked on the
door, where officers were waiting.

But when his drug trafficking charges got to court, Shemesh applied to
have the charges stayed or evidence excluded. She alleged there were
numerous Charter violations during the arrest.

Last summer, the judge heard evidence, including the testimony of Dinh
and the officers. Baltman found a "gross disparity" in their
descriptions of what happened.

Dinh testified he was pulled into the room by several officers, pushed
onto a bed and beaten.

The officers denied any undue force was used, nor did they observe any
injuries to him.

Citing photographs of his injuries, and evidence of his doctor, the
judge sided with Dinh, saying the officers could not explain the
bruises in the photos.

"Police used unwarranted physical violence against a fully cooperative
subject," she wrote in her September ruling.

Baltman added that while she found it "impossible" to determine how
the injuries were caused and by whom, she was satisfied one of more of
the officers "deliberately and unnecessarily injured Mr. Dinh."

She also found other Charter breaches and excluded the drugs found in
the residence.

But Baltman did find that the cocaine police obtained from his vehicle
was admissible, so he faced a trial.

Dinh admitted his involvement and agreed to plead guilty but felt he
needed to "tell his story," Shemesh told court. "He has always been
very clear about why he is here and what he expected out of our
judicial system," she said.

"He is settled with the fact that he is being punished for his poor
behaviour and he is settled that the judical system proceeded fairly
in its assessment of the conduct that was perpetrated against him."
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MAP posted-by: Matt