Pubdate: Wed, 15 Feb 2012
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Peter Small

POLICE CORRUPTION TRIAL: SUPERINTENDENT 'MESMERIZED BY THE MESS' AFTER SEARCH

A building superintendent says she was astounded by the mess Toronto 
drug squad officers made when they searched a tenant's apartment, 
allegedly before a warrant was issued.

"I could not believe my eyes," Ann Barnes, 73, testified Wednesday at 
a police corruption trial. "I was mesmerized by the mess."

Furniture was upturned and ripped, dishes were strewn about the 
floor, drawers pulled out and doors were knocked off, Barnes told 
prosecutor Milan Rupic.

"Everything was thrown all over the place," she said. "You couldn't walk."

The now-retired superintendent and property manager said she visited 
the apartment on Jan. 30, 1997, at the bidding of Wendy Vacon, a tenant.

"I said, 'Who did this?' and she said, 'The police did this,'" Barnes 
testified.

Barnes estimated the time as about 4:30 p.m.

The Crown alleges drug squad officers made up a false account of 
their search, particularly to hide the fact they allegedly entered 
the apartment before obtaining a warrant. The Crown also claims the 
officers later covered up the illegal search by falsifying their notebooks.

Police notes say the search of the apartment for drugs took place 
between 4:25 and 5:20 p.m. - well within the authorized 4 and 8 p.m. 
time frame.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Peter Brauti, Barnes 
admitted she has partial Alzheimer's disease, has a hazy memory of 
events and she could have visited the apartment the day after police 
searched it, not the day it happened.

She also agreed she could have been there at 6 p.m., rather than 4:30.

Small-time drug dealer Larry Vacon, then 36, lived with his wife, 
Wendy, with their 10-year-old son Christopher in the apartment at 
119a Jefferson Ave., in the Parkdale area.

On Tuesday, Larry Vacon testified that he can't remember what he had 
previously stated, that police had driven him to the apartment after 
arresting him around 2 p.m. for selling cocaine to a man.

He had previously stated that after police drove him to his home - 
which would have been between 2 and 3 p.m., he saw officers searching 
the unit and that they threatened to trash it worse than they already 
had if he didn't tell them where he kept the rest of his drugs.

John Schertzer, 54, Ned Maodus, 48, Steven Correia, 44, Raymond 
Pollard, 47, and Joseph Miched, 53 - former Central Field Command 
drug squad officers - collectively face 29 charges including attempt 
to obstruct justice, perjury, assault and extortion.

The trial continues.
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