Pubdate: Wed, 25 May 2016 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Page: 3 Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Andrew Seymour JUDGE RULES OTTAWA COPS VIOLATED RIGHTS For the second time in less than two weeks, Ontario's top court has overturned a drug conviction after concluding Ottawa police officers seriously violated the rights of a suspect. Eneida Pino was convicted of possession for the purpose of trafficking after Ottawa police seized 50 pot plants from the trunk of her car following a dramatic takedown in June 2010. The officers had been following Pino, 43, after watching her leave a suspected grow-op house. Pino and a man who was in the car with her described during the trial how an "aggressive" officer blocked the path of their car, shouted and pointed a gun at them. The officer denied that he had pulled his handgun - a claim that Judge David Paciocco concluded was a lie. The same officer then admitted he relied on his memory when reading Pino her rights, but he couldn't recall exactly what he said. Paciocco concluded he likely failed to advise Pino of her right to immediate, free legal advice. Pino then spent 5 1/2 hours alone in a cell without a call to a lawyer. Paciocco concluded that police violated her rights in multiple ways, including carrying out the search in a dangerous, unnecessary and unreasonable way and failing to give her prompt access to a lawyer, but allowed the marijuana to remain in evidence since the breaches weren't serious enough to justify gutting the prosecution's case against her. But in a decision released Tuesday, the court of appeal disagreed. Relying in part on a textbook co-authored by the judge himself, the appeal judges found that the Charter breaches, taken as a whole, were close to the "extreme end of seriousness" and the seized marijuana shouldn't be used against Pino. "Admission of the evidence in the light of the seriousness of the breaches, and especially the officers' dishonest testimony, may send the message that the justice system condones this kind of conduct," said the court of appeal. "This is one of those cases in which the court's need to disassociate itself from the police's conduct is greater than society's interest in prosecuting Ms. Pino for possessing 50 marijuana plants." The court then quashed Pino's conviction and found her not guilty. It was the second time the appeal court has overturned a decision this month after finding police violated an accused's rights. Philip McGuffie had his conviction for cocaine trafficking wiped out after the appeal court found there had been repeated breaches of his Charter rights. Both Pino and McGuffie were represented by Ottawa lawyer Howard Krongold. "Both of these cases involve police misconduct so serious that the Court of Appeal felt that it had the potential to bring the administration of justice into disrepute," said Krongold. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D