Pubdate: Thu, 28 Jun 2012
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Megan O'Toole
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.)

Officers Acquitted of Most Charges; Guilty on One

'THERE WAS A LOT OF DOUBT IN THIS CASE'

The 15-year legal saga of five former Toronto drug squad officers 
reached its conclusion Wednesday, as a Superior Court jury acquitted 
all five on the most serious charges they faced, including counts of 
conspiracy, assault, extortion and theft.

But the former officers left the downtown courthouse grim-faced after 
being found guilty on a narrow subset of charges related to a 
warrantless search.

The jury deliberated for nine days on the fates of John Schertzer, 
Steven Correia, Nebojsa Maodus, Joseph Miched and Raymond Pollard, 
who were accused of a wide-ranging "conspiracy of silence" aimed at 
concealing robberies and assaults on local drug dealers.

"It's obvious from the time that they took considering their verdict 
that there was a lot of doubt in this case, as I always knew there 
was," Schertzer 's lawyer, John Rosen, said outside court.

"We're very pleased that the jury saw that the main complainants were 
incredible; the Crown never had a case," Mr. Rosen said. "[But] 
they're feeling very disappointed as I am, because we really felt 
that this trial would be a complete vindication of all the negative 
things that have been said about them over the last 15 years."

The former officers have indicated they may appeal their conviction 
after the November sentencing hearing.

Crown attorney Milan Rupic declined to comment on whether he viewed 
the prosecution as a success, noting in a brief address to reporters: 
"This was a very long case. It was a complex case [and] the community 
owes those jurors a debt of gratitude."

Wednesday's verdict has been a long time coming. The trial itself has 
spanned six months, but the allegations date back to the late 1990s, 
when the five officers worked on Team Three of the Toronto Police 
Service central field command drug squad.

An RCMP-led probe of the squad's work commenced in 2001, after 
complaints from defence lawyers that police had stolen cash and 
jewellery from their clients. Charges were laid three years later, 
but stayed by a judge in 2008 amid "glacial delays" in bringing the 
matter to trial; the charges were subsequently revived on appeal.

The Crown relied on a handful of transactions to support its case 
against the five accused, who have all either retired or been 
suspended from the force. Much rested on the word of witnesses who 
had "many motives to lie," Justice Gladys Pardu acknowledged.

"Some of them, because of their character, may lie reflexively, like 
other people blink their eyes. Others may hate police in general [or] 
think that they can get out of charges if they accuse the police of 
misconduct," Judge Pardu warned in her final charge to the jury.

Christopher Quigley was perhaps the most dramatic of the Crown's 
witnesses, detailing how the drug squad viciously beat him in April 
1998, while demanding to know where he had stashed his marijuana and 
cash, but the three former officers charged in the Quigley matter 
were acquitted on those counts.

The five accused were also acquitted on conspiracy charges tied to an 
alleged cover-up that involved several other drug dealers who claimed 
police stole cash and drugs from them, or assaulted them, or both.

At the end of the day, the only charges that stuck related to heroin 
dealer Ho Bing Pang, who accused the drug squad of failing to obtain 
a warrant before they searched his apartment in 1998. The jury 
convicted all five of attempting to obstruct justice by falsifying 
notes or lying under oath to conceal the warrantless search, and 
three were further convicted of perjury.

While Miched said he brought a warrant from 53 Division before the 
search commenced, the Crown questioned his testimony, saying he could 
not have driven the distance claimed in the 22-minute available time window.

"When you look at each of the transactions, we're down to this last 
one," Mr. Rosen said. "It comes down to 22 minutes."

Toronto Police Insp. Art Little, who was involved in the internal 
investigation of the drug squad, did not view Wednesday's verdict as a victory.

"It's always unsettling to investigate your own. We don't take any 
pleasure in convicting our own fellow officers," he said. "It was 
necessary and we did it- It's embarrassing for the Toronto Police 
Service and we're glad to put this chapter behind us."
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