Pubdate: Thu, 10 Jan 2008
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2008 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsor/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Author: Sarah Sacheli
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

COMMANDO-STYLE RAID CHALLENGED

Cops' Unreasonable Force Violated Rights Of Accused, Lawyer Argues

Three men are trying to get their drug and weapons charges thrown 
out, arguing Windsor police used unreasonable commando-style force 
when they stormed a Meadowbrook Lane apartment in 2005, wearing 
balaclavas, armed with submachine-guns and using a stun grenade and Tasers.

In Superior Court this week, the three accused men arrested in the 
raid are arguing the evidence collected -- cocaine and a sawed-off 
shotgun -- should be inadmissable in court, and the drug and weapons 
charges against them should be thrown out, because police violated 
their Charter rights by using unreasonable force.

"Everyone has the right be secure against unreasonable search or 
seizure," Kirk Munroe, lawyer for Tyson Jerome Huff, 23, said in his 
submission to the court.

Huff, Carlos Antoine Puckerin, 24, and Guneyt Mehmet Turker, 22, face 
a total of 13 charges stemming from the Nov. 8, 2005 search.

Huff and Turker were found inside the apartment. Free on bail on 
other charges at the time of the raid and on probation from prior 
convictions, they face additional charges of breaching court orders. 
Huff is also charged with assaulting a police officer. Puckerin, 
arrested as he pulled up to the scene of the police raid, is 
additionally charged with possession of marijuana.

Photos of Turker taken at the Windsor Jail show the man had a cut 
above his right eye and another behind his left ear when he was 
admitted to the jail. Turker claims police kicked and punched him 
after using a Taser on him.

Under questioning by defence lawyers Tuesday, Const. John Gannon, one 
of six tactical officers who burst into the apartment, testified he 
arrested Turker. He said he felt he had no better alternative than to 
"touch stun" the man after Turker assumed an "aggressive pose" by 
backing up and widening his stance as if ready to fight rather than 
complying with orders to get down on the ground. He said he charged 
his Taser then pressed it into Turker's upper back or lower neck, 
sending a temporarily debilitating electrical current through the 
man's body. Turker fell to the floor face first, cutting his eyebrow, 
Gannon testified.

He denied kicking or punching the man.

In proceedings which have pre-empted the start of the criminal trial 
this week, the accused men are arguing the manner in which the 
"surprise" search was carried out was unreasonable.

ACTING ON TIP

Acting on a tip from an unnamed informant, police got a warrant to 
search the apartment in the 2100 block of Meadowbrook Lane. They held 
a briefing session then descended on the apartment soon after 6 p.m.

Officers testifying in the proceedings Tuesday said it took two 
attempts with a battering ram to break down the front door. Because 
they didn't get in on the first try they lost "the element of 
surprise," Gannon testified. So another officer threw what has been 
referred to as a "flash-bang" grenade through the doorway to 
temporarily distract and disorient the occupants.

"We planned to use the distraction device if we don't get in on the 
first hit," Gannon testified. "If we don't get in the residence 
clearly, we have to regain our tactical advantage."

But lawyers for the accused men said the detonation, which shattered 
a window, so disoriented the occupants, they were unable to comply 
with the officers' orders. The officers then "assaulted" Turker and 
Huff by Tasering them, the lawyers claim.

Crown prosecutor Richard Pollock argues "reasonable force was used in 
the circumstances to gain control over the suspects and location." 
Drugs and guns go hand in hand, a succession of police officers 
testified, justifying their "dynamic entry" of the residence.

Pollock said that in addition to a sawed-off Browning 12-gauge 
shotgun, officers found four bags containing individually wrapped 
pieces of crack cocaine in a kitchen cupboard, 3.4 grams of powdered 
cocaine and another 3.3 grams of crack cocaine in another location, 
two digital scales and an alleged debt list.

The proceedings are expected to continue for the rest of the week 
before Superior Court Justice Joseph Quinn.
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