https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/boris-borissov-sentencing-1.7338925
Once again Toronto police charge a victim that they assaulted.
WHEN POLICE LIE IN COURT (AGAIN) – It seems to be a habit for some Toronto cops. “Is there something embedded within the police culture or subculture that might lead officers to believe that: ‘This is something that not only I should do, but something that I can do and that I’ll get away with as well?'”
YET ANOTHER ILL ADVISED CROWN PROSECUTION OF AN INNOCENT MAN (The Star May 28, 2024)
AFTER TWO YEAR IN JAIL, A JURY TOOK JUST TWO HOURS TO FIND HIM NOT GUILTY.
Timothy Clarke Anthony spent two years in jail awaiting trial for a fatal hit-and-run that shocked the Hagersville community. Once his day in court arrived, it took a jury just two hours to find him not guilty, Jacques Gallant reports. “I wasn’t sure what they were going to think,” the 37-year-old said. “I’m an Indigenous man in a white court.” In the 2021 incident, the motorcycle driven by 21-year-old Alexander Dalton was hit from behind by a speeding Chevrolet Tahoe, throwing him from his vehicle and into the path of oncoming traffic. Anthony was arrested for his alleged involvement, despite evidence to the contrary, after another suspect in the case claimed he was behind the wheel. Take a closer look at what happened.
• Context: The defence noted witness descriptions of the driver didn’t match Anthony’s profile and his DNA wasn’t present in the vehicle. The evidence against Anthony was “essentially reliant on a witness who had all the reason in the world to lie,” his lawyer, Tonya Kent, said.
• The fallout: Kent said Anthony’s case was another example of a prosecution that should never have happened. But despite the weak evidence against him, he was repeatedly denied bail and kept in jail until last month.
What strikes me about this article is the prior belief that crimes were committed only by the poor and working class people. It makes me wonder how much the past ideas of eugenics still instruct our beliefs about our criminal justice system. “the case became a sensation because of the killers’ wealth and social status, which ran counter to the then-popular theory that crime was confined to the lower classes. “The murderers went against the grain of popular belief in criminology,” he said. “The idea was that only the poor and working-class people committed crimes, which was the basis behind eugenics.”
Do you still believe that police officers always tell the truth on the witness stand? Justice Fergus O’Donnell knows better. – “In a ruling comparing a group of police officers to the golden-era TV buffoon Sgt. Schultz — the “Hogan’s Heroes” prison guard with the catchphrase, “I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!” — an Ontario Court judge has made a remarkably direct call for honesty from officers acting as witnesses in criminal trials. “TELL THE TRUTH,” Justice Fergus O’Donnell wrote.”
ONTARIO IS POISED TO INCREASE IMPAIRED DRIVING PENALTIES.
ANOTHER TRAGIC DECISION OF THE TORONTO CROWN ATTORNEYS’ OFFICE TO PROSECUTE A CASE – In the aftermath of the acquittal of Mr. Zameer, another tragic decision, this time to prosecute Lindsay Hewson is revealed.
“The Crown’s decision to prosecute was so questionable that a judge took the rare step of suggesting it was not in the public interest to proceed to trial. But the Crown went ahead anyway, forcing a grieving Hewson, her partner, and the court system into a process that dragged over three years only to end in January with most of the charges gone and Hewson with no criminal record, and no jail time.
Hewson’s lawyers are left asking: What was the point?
The case was an example of “the criminalization of poverty,” said one of Hewson’s lawyers, Megan Savard. “If a wealthy white woman had left a dishwasher pod on the floor and her child had consumed it and died, and had she responded exactly as urgently and responsibly as our client responded, I think it is fair to say she would never have been charged.”
The Crown has complete discretion over which charges laid by police should proceed in court — if any — and is required by policy to only go ahead “if there is a reasonable prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest.”
But in a rare move, Bliss (who conducted the preliminary inquiry) concluded his ruling by questioning the necessity of putting the parents on trial.
“I wish to stress, however, that the fact that there is some evidence that requires the defendants to be committed for trial does not mean that the defendants would, or even should, be convicted, nor should their committal for trial be taken, in the circumstances of this case, to be an endorsement of the view that it is in the public interest to prosecute them for the death of their son,” the judge wrote.”
PSA – Be aware that the OPP will be conducting a breath test at EVERY GTA traffic stop. No suspicion or reasonable grounds needed.
Posted May 1, 2024 4:21 pm.
Last Updated May 1, 2024 5:00 pm.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are warning drivers to “be prepared” to give a breath sample if you’re pulled over for any reason in the Greater Toronto Area, even if they don’t suspect you’ve been drinking.
In a release Wednesday, the OPP said they’re now conducing Mandatory Alcohol Screening (MAS) “as part of every traffic stop.”
“As impaired driving occurrences continue to increase in Ontario Provincial Police jurisdictions, the OPP is taking its strongest measures yet to detect, investigate and remove impaired drivers from our roads.”
The OPP says the move comes as impaired driving collisions and charges are up close to 30 per cent over the previous five-year average.
“Motorists are again reminded to be prepared to provide a breath sample during a traffic stop,” an OPP release states.
The OPP says under Canada’s Mandatory Alcohol Screening law, drivers must immediately comply with a police officer’s demand for a breath sample, “even in the absence of any suspicion that they have consumed alcohol.”
“Drivers who do not comply with a breath demand could be charged for failure or refusal to comply under the Criminal Code.”
THE CURIOUS CASE OF MR. ZAMIR AND THE MYTH THAT POLICE OFFICERS NEVER LIE – From the beginning the Police Chief set out the narrative to the media that this was an intentional murder of a police officer. When a wise Judge discovered it was a weak case and released Mr. Zamir on bail pending his trial, Premier Doug Ford fed the media outrage. Three police officers testified under oath at the trial the officer was run down head on however the accident reconstructionist and the video evidence contradicted this narrative. The Crown could not devise a viable theory of murder.
The jury rejected the police officers’ evidence and found that Mr. Zamir was attempting to save himself, his 2-year-old child and his pregnant wife from what to anyone in that situation would appear as an attack by unknown persons that threatened his family with robbery or possibly murder. For a moment, put yourself in Mr. Zamir’s situation, both in the parking lot and the courtroom. This case should never have gone to trial. The entire prosecution was police driven from beginning to end. In the end, the Judge deeply apologized, on our behalf, for what we put Mr. Zamir through.
Mr. Zamir should be compensated. The police officers who provided false testimony should be disciplined. The Crown Attorney who decided to prosecute Mr. Zamir should be called to account.
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2024/04/21/umar-zameer-not-guilty-in-death-of-toronto-police-officer/?