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Drug Charges Making Ex-Cop's Life A Misery
Pubdate: Sat, 17 Apr 2004
Source: Halifax Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2004 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact: http://www.herald.ns.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Sherri Borden
DRUG CHARGES MAKING EX-COP'S LIFE A MISERY
Ryan Asks Court To Drop Case
Since drug trafficking charges were laid against him, a former RCMP
officer says he has suffered isolation from his peers, severe
depression and humiliation.
And because of these difficulties and the length of time it has taken
for his case to get to trial, former constable Joseph Daniel (Danny)
Ryan, 33, an ex-member of the Tantallon detachment's street team,
wants the charges stayed.
"The loss of my job, inability to get a job in a related field, loss
of my friends as a result of my restrictive release conditions, along
with my associated financial cost has been overwhelming," Mr. Ryan
wrote in an affidavit filed Friday at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in
Halifax.
"The depression and nightmares continue to cause me great anxiety on a
daily basis."
Justice Walter Goodfellow will hear the stay of proceedings
application Tuesday. Mr. Ryan was charged with trafficking in
marijuana and breach of trust after fellow officers arrested him Jan.
13, 2002, outside the Cambridge Suites Hotel in downtown Halifax,
where he was staying.
Mr. Ryan and his family, he says, continue to make sacrifices to deal
with the problems that have arisen as a result of these charges.
"The fact that the matter has taken so long to get to the stage that
it has in the legal proceedings has only exacerbated matters because
they have gone unresolved," Mr. Ryan wrote.
The ex-Mountie's trial, to be heard by a judge alone, is set for June
14 to 18.
At the time of his arrest, Mr. Ryan was scheduled to be transferred to
Ottawa in January 2002 to join the prime minister's security detail.
But the transfer was delayed while the force investigated criminal
allegations against him.
In the affidavit, Mr. Ryan, who now lives in Aylmer, Que., also sheds
light on the circumstances of his arrest, which he claims caused
recurring nightmares.
Alone at the time, Mr. Ryan claims he was forced to the ground, lying
with his hands at his sides.
"One of the arresting officers had his firearm pointed at my face with
his finger on the trigger, although I offered no resistance and did
not have any weapons on my person," Mr. Ryan alleges. "From my own
training, I know that this was an excessive use of force."
When Mr. Ryan resigned from the RCMP on April 9, 2003, as he faced
being fired, he lost all of his medical benefits.
As a result, he says, he and his common-law wife experienced
significant financial hardship trying to cover medical expenses.
Although his doctor and psychologist advised against Mr. Ryan
returning to work, Mr. Ryan, a father of one son, says he had to
because of the massive debt he had accumulated.
"I applied for many employment positions once I made the decision to
re-enter the workforce," he wrote.
"Several potential employers were quite interested in me because of my
training and experience. However, once it was necessary to obtain a
security clearance, I was no longer in the running for these
positions, despite the fact that I was facing allegations only at this
point."
In January 2003, Mr. Ryan got a job with Health Canada. But after four
months, he says, he was asked about the pending "RCMP situation."
"When I told the story of what had happened up to this point, I was
sent home and advised that they would 'review my situation.' The
following week I was let go, after they advised that they had spoken
with the RCMP in Halifax."
Mr. Ryan's wife got a full-time job last September, and he started
working at a government call centre two months later.
Two weeks into that job, Mr. Ryan had to fill out a security clearance
application. But rather than taking the chance of losing another
government job because he didn't get a clearance, Mr. Ryan changed
jobs and began working for Certigard, Petro-Canada's car repair service.
Mr. Ryan's arrest prompted federal prosecutors to launch an immediate
review of drug cases he investigated. As a result, charges were stayed
against a number of people.
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