Pubdate: Thu, 29 Mar 2007
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Ian Robertson, Sun Media
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

DRUG RAP IS 'CRAP': LAWYER'S PAL

Ex-FBI Agent, 72, Released On Bond

An elderly Toronto lawyer and former FBI agent accused of smuggling 
drugs to a jailhouse client emerged from court custody yesterday 
proclaiming his innocence.

Edmund L. Schofield, 72, who also has a home in Stratford, said Don 
Jail guards gave a client a "cursory pat down" -- not the strip 
search they claimed -- before they sat across a table to discuss the 
prisoner's case late Tuesday.

When the client reached into "his crotch," the Boston-born ex-Toronto 
prosecutor and grandfather said he questioned him and "he said 'I'm 
moving it to a safe place.'

"Within two minutes they were storming us," he said of the guards, 
who dragged his client away and "wouldn't give me any details."

Marijuana And Cocaine

Toronto Police later showed him three small packets guards said they 
found on the prisoner, two they said held marijuana, the other cocaine.

"I've never touched drugs in all my life," Schofield said, after 
hugging one of his four daughters after his release from an Old City 
Hall court cell. "I feel like I got hit by a truck ... it's very frustrating."

Weary and unshaven, he wore the same clothes put on for court in 
Brampton on Tuesday, before visiting clients in three lockups.

Carried A Gun

A graduate of the University of Toronto, Mary Beth Schofield said her 
dad was sent "all over" with the FBI in the U.S., before returning to Canada.

During demonstrations in the deep south in the 1960s, he was one of 
several agents who carried guns to protect civil rights "Freedom 
Riders" who defied segregation.

Schofield's daughter said he is strong-willed, "but even if you're 
completely innocent, even having your name associated with things 
like this can be very debilitating.

"Poor guy, he's getting too old for this," she said.

Justice of the Peace Sonny Ng released Schofield on a $10,000 surety 
bond and ordered him back April 18, a day after his 73rd birthday.

Federal Crown prosecutor Chris Gruppuso did not oppose a duty defence 
counsel's request for a publication ban on court proceedings, which Ng granted.

Outside the courthouse, lawyer David O'Connor -- who posted the 
cashless bond -- said his friend "is absolutely outraged.

"He's absolutely going to defend himself very vigorously," said 
O'Connor, who had embraced Schofield over a barrier in the prisoner dock.

"He can't wait to prove his innocence," he said.

Schofield is highly respected and liked, O'Connor said. "It's a sad 
thing ... he's a fine man."

Lawyer Jeff House, who said he offered his house as collateral for 
Schofield's release, called his charges of trafficking in marijuana 
and cocaine, plus possession of pot for the purposes of trafficking, "crap.

"We've all seen searches in jail and if you have a knife or a gun, 
they confiscate it," House said. The guards said they searched the 
client "and found nothing, then they searched him again and found the drugs.

"It's perfectly likely that they missed it ... the first time," House said.

Emma Rhodes, who also offered her home for Schofield's bail, said she 
and other lawyers worry about guards now having more powers to bring 
charges against jailhouse visitors like them.

Her firm now insists "we not meet with clients unless it's through glass."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman