Pubdate: Tue, 05 May 2015 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2015 The Toronto Star Contact: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Marco Chown Oved Page: GT3 CROWN ABANDONS CASE WHERE PEEL COP MISLED JP Charges have been dropped against the Markham marijuana grow operator whose house was raided after a Peel police officer used misleading information to obtain a search warrant and lied about his investigation. Last month, Superior Court Judge Gordon Lemon ruled that Peel police Const. Aamer Merchant "misled" a justice of the peace to obtain the warrant, then "lied" about his investigation on the stand. On Monday, the federal Crown dropped charges of producing and possessing cannabis for the purpose of trafficking because there was no reasonable prospect of conviction without the evidence collected. It's unclear whether Merchant will face any discipline for his actions. "In the great number of cases that the Star has brought to light in the last few years, I don't know personally of any consequences to any of the police officers," said Ehsan Ghebrai, a defence lawyer who acted in the case. "There needs to be some transparency in how police officers are held to account - especially those who are found on a balance of probabilities to have lied or essentially perjured themselves in court." After being contacted by the Star, Peel Region Police launched an internal investigation into Merchant's conduct on the stand - a process that continues. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom