Pubdate: Sat, 22 Jul 2006
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Peter Small, Courts Bureau

2ND GANG-RELATED RELEASE ON BAIL SPARKS CONCERN

Police And Crown Cite Fears For Public Safety

Judge Defends Role As Protector Of Civil Liberties

Warning that judges should not bend principles to public pressure, 
Justice Anne Molloy has rescinded custody for a second man charged in 
Toronto's biggest anti-gang offensive.

Even "in the face of public vitriol, judges must be careful to be 
guardians" of our civil liberties, she said.

Yesterday, Molloy released Leighton Bonnick, 27, on $55,000 bail and 
house arrest to be overseen round the clock by his mother and aunt. A 
justice of the peace had earlier denied him bail.

Although the public is rightly worried about drugs, guns and gangs, 
Molloy said there is no such specific concern about Bonnick that 
releasing him would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

He faces seven charges, including four for drugs, one for gun 
possession and one gang-related offence.

Molloy made her comments in the face of criticism earlier this week 
of her July 14 decision to grant bail to Steven Lucas, 27, who is 
charged with 100 firearms and drug counts in the same May sweep that 
caught Bonnick, part of Toronto police's Project XXX.

Police said Lucas was a key player in a west-end gun-smuggling 
pipeline. Police Chief Bill Blair called his release a disappointing setback.

Yesterday Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash noted that Bonnick 
faces fewer charges than Lucas. "I am not sure the two can be looked 
at in the same way," he said.

"I think our concerns are public safety." Police have re-arrested too 
many people released on bail despite violent offences, he added.

Brendan Crawley, a spokesman for the attorney-general's ministry, 
said the Crown is ordering a transcript of Molloy's Bonnick decision 
and will review it to see whether there are grounds for appeal.

Molloy said that Bonnick, who has a record for gun and drugs charges 
and failing to comply with court orders, is a poor bail risk and is 
likely to continue his life of crime if not adequately supervised.

She ordered that police be empowered to knock on Bonnick's door any 
time of the day or night and demand that he, plus either his aunt or 
mother, present themselves.

Provincial Opposition Leader John Tory said Molloy confused him by 
saying on the one hand that Bonnick is likely to reoffend and on the 
other hand releasing him. "Sometimes I don't get these judges," he said.
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