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: Jacques Gallant
Page: GT3

DRUG CASE DROPPED AFTER JUDGE FINDS YORK OFFICERS LIED

Blistering ruling on improper car search sends a message to police
about Charter rights

York Regional Police investigators believed Dennis Rawlings was
carrying ketamine in his car, but they didn't want to stop him on a
drug offence for fear of disrupting an entire investigation.

So a detective asked a uniformed traffic officer to pull Rawlings over
on a traffic issue, "to make up any excuse and try to obtain the
consent of Mr. Rawlings to search his car," according to a recent
ruling from Superior Court Justice Bruce Glass.

In a blistering ruling that legal experts say will send a strong
message to police about respecting rights guaranteed under the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, Glass permanently halted the prosecution of
Rawlings on the three charges he was facing - trafficking in cocaine,
conspiracy to traffic in ketamine and possession for the purpose of
trafficking in ketamine.

Calling the incident a "catastrophe," Glass found that police had lied
to Rawlings when he was first pulled over, arbitrarily stopped and
detained him, and failed to advise him of his right to a lawyer.

"Courts cannot endorse deliberate police planning to bypass the
protections of the Charter," Glass wrote. "If the prosecution of cases
flowing from abuse is stopped, there can be no doubt that there will
be a change of how police services conduct themselves with persons."

York police spokesman Const. Andy Pattenden, responding to the ruling,
said "We respect the decision of the courts." He said the officers
involved in the case would not be commenting. He did not say whether
they are facing disciplinary action.

"The judgment is a strong statement that courts will not stand by and
watch the police flout the constitution in their dealings with
people," Daniel Santoro, one of Rawlings' lawyers, told the Star.

All details included in this story are from Glass'
decision.

The traffic officer pulled Rawlings over on July 4, 2010, telling him
"there had been a complaint about how someone was driving" - something
Rawlings disputed, Glass wrote. Rawlings did agree to get out of the
vehicle for a pat-down search, but refused to allow the officer to
search his vehicle.

The officer, who said he was "concerned for officer safety" when he
wanted to do the pat-down and search the car, never told Rawlings he
had been stopped on a drug offence or that he had the right to retain
a lawyer, Glass found.

The judge also indicated there was "no foundation" for a concern of
officer safety.

The incident concluded when the traffic officer again tried to search
the car and Rawlings threw a bag that police believed contained the
drugs to his wife on the sidewalk.

More officers then appeared on scene, with six of them ending up on
top of him, according to Glass's decision, who wrote that Rawlings
sustained several broken ribs.

Even at that point, Rawlings, now 42, had not been told he was under
arrest for any criminal offence, Glass wrote. Rawlings was initially
charged with assaulting the six officers, but that charge was withdrawn.

The judge also took issue with the officers' testimony about the
altercation, writing that "Many times officers had a memory lapse by
answering that they did not recall some events."

The Crown "accepts that the actions of the police were improper," but
argued it would be "judicial overreaction" to put a halt to the case,
pointing out that real evidence was seized.

Glass disagreed, writing he found no justification for the police
actions: "To endorse these breaches amounts to sweeping improper
conduct of police officers under the carpet."
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MAP posted-by: Matt