Pubdate: Wed, 20 Jun 2012
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Megan O'Toole
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.)

JURY TO DECIDE FATE OF ALLEGED CORRUPT OFFICERS

Charged With Offences Dating Back to 1990s

The fate of five former Toronto police drug squad officers on trial 
for corruption was placed in the hands of a Superior Court jury 
Tuesday - a full 15 years after the alleged offences.

John Schertzer, Steven Correia, Nebojsa Maodus, Joseph Miched and 
Raymond Pollard stand charged with conspiring to attempt to obstruct 
justice by falsifying police records or giving false testimony in 
relation to a handful cases dating back to the late 1990s.

The Crown alleges members of the drug squad assaulted and robbed drug 
dealers, then worked diligently to cover their tracks. But the 
defence, citing gaping holes in the Crown's case, contends the 
officers were guilty of nothing more than perhaps sloppy paperwork.

"This is not a public inquiry, and you should not be concerned about 
whether the police force could be better or differently managed, or 
whether there are systemic problems with the police force," Justice 
Gladys Pardu cautioned jurors Tuesday as she concluded her 295-page 
charge, before sequestering the jury in the early afternoon.

"Your concern is to evaluate whether the Crown has proven that the 
individuals before you as defendants are guilty of any offence beyond 
a reasonable doubt," Judge Pardu said.

Though all five officers were initially charged in 2004, another 
judge stayed those charges four years later amid lengthy delays in 
the case - only to see that ruling overturned at the Ontario Court of 
Appeal, which ordered a new trial.

Since the trial commenced in January, the jury has heard starkly 
contrasting versions of a small number of cases handled by Team Three 
of the central field command drug squad during the late 1990s.

Alleging the five accused were fundamentally dishonest in their 
law-enforcement role, the Crown brought forward a handful of 
witnesses who said police assaulted them, stole drugs and money, or 
searched their property without obtaining the necessary warrant.

In one case, witness Christopher Quigley said members of the drug 
squad subjected him to a brutal beating inside an interrogation room 
at 53 Division while demanding information on his drug stash.

By the end, "I was choking on my own blood," he testified.

The defence, meanwhile, argued that while the officers may not have 
followed internal police standards to the letter, they committed no crime.

Lawyer John Rosen, who represents Mr. Schertzer, cited substantial 
gaps in the police records the Crown introduced to support its case, 
and cautioned the jury against accepting the word of "unsavoury" 
witnesses from Toronto's drug underworld.

Amid problems with the Crown's case, Judge Pardu previously 
instructed the jury to acquit the officers on five of the 14 counts 
listed in the indictment.

On Tuesday, Judge Pardu reiterated a warning to the jury about 
accepting testimony from witnesses of "bad character."

"Some of them, because of their character, may lie reflexively, like 
other people blink their eyes... There is good reason to look at the 
evidence of these witnesses with the greatest care and caution," she said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom