critter cartoon
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Suspended officer gets $1,000 fine for forgery
Source: Barrie Examiner
By MEGAN GILLIS, QMI AGENCY
A judge fined a suspended OPP officer $1,000 Monday for forging documents so he could go to an Elvis tribute show he produced in Gatineau, Que., while on bail for a string of criminal charges.
A year ago, Const. Maurice Morrissette asked for a bail variation so he could go to the show. He presented a prosecutor with two fakes when she asked to see an employment contract requiring him to be there.
Morrissette was previously convicted of breach of trust and obstructing justice for providing information and advice to known drug dealers.
By MEGAN GILLIS, QMI AGENCY
A judge fined a suspended OPP officer $1,000 Monday for forging documents so he could go to an Elvis tribute show he produced in Gatineau, Que., while on bail for a string of criminal charges.
A year ago, Const. Maurice Morrissette asked for a bail variation so he could go to the show. He presented a prosecutor with two fakes when she asked to see an employment contract requiring him to be there.
Morrissette was previously convicted of breach of trust and obstructing justice for providing information and advice to known drug dealers.
Monday, August 16, 2010
OPP officer charged in bike accident
Source: The Spec
JARVIS – A Haldimand County OPP officer involved in a collision with a motorcycle has been charged.
OPP Sergeant Dave Rektor said today the collision occurred on Highway 6 near Jarvis Friday at 5:15 p.m. as a cruiser made a U-turn in the path of an oncoming motorcycle.
The 62-year-old Binbrook man riding the motorcycle suffered minor injuries and was treated in hospital and released.
Rektor could not say whether or not the rider was on his way to or from the Friday the 13th motorcycle celebrations in Port Dover that day.
Constable Jeffrey Howe, a four-year member of the OPP, has been charged with making an unsafe start from a stopped position.
JARVIS – A Haldimand County OPP officer involved in a collision with a motorcycle has been charged.
OPP Sergeant Dave Rektor said today the collision occurred on Highway 6 near Jarvis Friday at 5:15 p.m. as a cruiser made a U-turn in the path of an oncoming motorcycle.
The 62-year-old Binbrook man riding the motorcycle suffered minor injuries and was treated in hospital and released.
Rektor could not say whether or not the rider was on his way to or from the Friday the 13th motorcycle celebrations in Port Dover that day.
Constable Jeffrey Howe, a four-year member of the OPP, has been charged with making an unsafe start from a stopped position.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Daddy Dalton Flip Flops Again
Every ones favourite Dad Does it again...
Just a few weeks ago McGuinty was saying MMA was not coming to Ontario, and now its coming along with Internet gambling.
MMA is not wholesome family entertainment is it? What happens Dad, if a child catches a glimpse of it on TV and then becomes a schoolyard bully, scarring other children for life?, is Dad going to give my 9 year old nephew whom I watch MMA with a lecture?
No doubt what happened is Daddy Dalton and his band of thieves seen the TAX that can be collected off these lucrative cash cows and then call it regulated!
Is a few deaths along the way OK if Ontario makes some cash?
Surely Dad knows that Internet gambling can lead to someone committing suicide, but it's ok naysayers it's going to be regulated.
I hope Kevin Wiener wins the battle and sues the province, putting a few more million on the record deficit that Dad has put Ontario in...
Just a few weeks ago McGuinty was saying MMA was not coming to Ontario, and now its coming along with Internet gambling.
MMA is not wholesome family entertainment is it? What happens Dad, if a child catches a glimpse of it on TV and then becomes a schoolyard bully, scarring other children for life?, is Dad going to give my 9 year old nephew whom I watch MMA with a lecture?
No doubt what happened is Daddy Dalton and his band of thieves seen the TAX that can be collected off these lucrative cash cows and then call it regulated!
Is a few deaths along the way OK if Ontario makes some cash?
Surely Dad knows that Internet gambling can lead to someone committing suicide, but it's ok naysayers it's going to be regulated.
I hope Kevin Wiener wins the battle and sues the province, putting a few more million on the record deficit that Dad has put Ontario in...
Saturday, August 7, 2010
On-duty officer charged with stealing drug evidence
Source:The Spec
August 07, 2010
Joey Coleman
The Hamilton Spectator
Hamilton Police have charged one of their own after Oxycocet tablets were stolen from a locked drug deposit box at police headquarters.
The drugs went missing on July 23.
Nine-year veteran Andrew Pauls, 32, is facing two counts of theft of property valued under $5000, one count possession of property valued under $5000, possession of drugs, and breach of trust.
Pauls was released and will appear in court on September 2, 2010.
He has been suspended from duty with pay.
The investigation was conducted by the Hamilton Police Service with the assistance of an outside police force.
Watch thespec.com for updates
August 07, 2010
Joey Coleman
The Hamilton Spectator
Hamilton Police have charged one of their own after Oxycocet tablets were stolen from a locked drug deposit box at police headquarters.
The drugs went missing on July 23.
Nine-year veteran Andrew Pauls, 32, is facing two counts of theft of property valued under $5000, one count possession of property valued under $5000, possession of drugs, and breach of trust.
Pauls was released and will appear in court on September 2, 2010.
He has been suspended from duty with pay.
The investigation was conducted by the Hamilton Police Service with the assistance of an outside police force.
Watch thespec.com for updates
Friday, August 6, 2010
Conviction stands for Peel cop who stole cocaine
Source: Toronto Sun
BRAMPTON — Somewhere in the GTA, some very fortunate cocaine smugglers are thanking their lucky stars.
The bad guys narrowly escaped an RCMP drug sting that instead ensnared at least one dirty Peel Region cop, with another two officers now suspended and under investigation.
The surprising revelation that Peel Regional Police Sgt. Marty Rykhoff and Const. Warren Williams are also facing possible criminal and Police Service Act charges related to the case came at the sentencing hearing for former Const. Sheldon Cook, who was convicted in June of stealing 15 bricks of what he believed was real coke.
The Mounties didn’t exactly get the men they were aiming for.
The local cops believed they’d stumbled on a huge drug smuggling scheme in November 2006 when a frightened courier delivered his suspicious cargo to their doorstep.
The driver had panicked after a mysterious customer wanted him to deliver a truckload of mangoes from the airport to a dark and deserted yard with no loading dock. Instead, he took the load straight to police.
Finding bricks of white powder hidden under the fruit, Cook and the other cops believed they’d uncovered a massive cocaine shipment. Instead, they’d unknowingly landed in the middle of Operation Ocaper, an RCMP sting which had intercepted 146 kilos of coke bound from Peru to Toronto and replaced it with bricks of phony drugs embedded with GPS tracking devices.
But instead of tracking the drugs to the GTA smugglers, imagine the Mounties’ surprise when they not only got detoured to a Peel police station, but 44 of the one kilo bricks mysteriously went missing after officers got their hands on the errant load.
Cook was arrested by the RCMP a few days later after the signal led them to his Cambridge garage, where 15 bricks of the phony coke were found hidden in his Sea-Doo.
Justice Casey Hill rejected Cook’s contention that he knew they were fake drugs and had been told to take them home for safekeeping only to be framed later by his superiors, Williams and Rykhoff.
But on learning late last month from Crown prosecutors David Rowcliffe and Anya Weiler that their two key witnesses are now under police investigation themselves, Cook’s lawyer Patrick Ducharme demanded a mistrial, or at the very least, a reopening of the trial.
The judge refused both requests, saying that no matter what happens with the investigation into Williams and Rykhoff, it wouldn’t affect his conclusion that Cook was also guilty.
Hill said he’d been highly critical of both officers in his judgment and was very careful in what he believed of their testimony.
In fact, it was the judge’s harsh words for both cops during his verdict in June that led to their suspension and the launch of an internal affairs investigation two days later.
“As shocking as it may be to many, in my view, the two principal Crown witnesses, both sworn police officers, must be treated as suspect or tainted witnesses,” the judge had said in his 141-page decision.
He accused Williams of perjury, saying he lied to the court because of a “dangerous and warped code” of not snitching on a fellow officer.
The judge was even more scathing when it came to Rykhoff, saying he not only lied during his testimony but it was also “likely” that he “did remove” a box of the fake cocaine from the courier truck.
The judge noted that eight of the slit-open bricks were found in a dumpster 2.8 miles from Rykhoff’s home and that the Crown’s submissions admitted it “was probable that Rykhoff was involved with the accused in skimming a number of bricks of suspected cocaine from the bad guy’s load.”
This is the same officer, court heard, who was docked five days pay for pretending to be sick when he was actually partying it up at a college football game in Halifax the day after he was involved in the “drug” seizure.
It all sounds like a page torn out of the old Keystone Kops comedies, except the only ones laughing are the lucky drug smugglers who didn’t get stung.
Cook’s sentencing hearing continues next month.
Read Mandel Wednesday through Saturday. michele.mandel@sunmedia.ca or 416-947-2231
BRAMPTON — Somewhere in the GTA, some very fortunate cocaine smugglers are thanking their lucky stars.
The bad guys narrowly escaped an RCMP drug sting that instead ensnared at least one dirty Peel Region cop, with another two officers now suspended and under investigation.
The surprising revelation that Peel Regional Police Sgt. Marty Rykhoff and Const. Warren Williams are also facing possible criminal and Police Service Act charges related to the case came at the sentencing hearing for former Const. Sheldon Cook, who was convicted in June of stealing 15 bricks of what he believed was real coke.
The Mounties didn’t exactly get the men they were aiming for.
The local cops believed they’d stumbled on a huge drug smuggling scheme in November 2006 when a frightened courier delivered his suspicious cargo to their doorstep.
The driver had panicked after a mysterious customer wanted him to deliver a truckload of mangoes from the airport to a dark and deserted yard with no loading dock. Instead, he took the load straight to police.
Finding bricks of white powder hidden under the fruit, Cook and the other cops believed they’d uncovered a massive cocaine shipment. Instead, they’d unknowingly landed in the middle of Operation Ocaper, an RCMP sting which had intercepted 146 kilos of coke bound from Peru to Toronto and replaced it with bricks of phony drugs embedded with GPS tracking devices.
But instead of tracking the drugs to the GTA smugglers, imagine the Mounties’ surprise when they not only got detoured to a Peel police station, but 44 of the one kilo bricks mysteriously went missing after officers got their hands on the errant load.
Cook was arrested by the RCMP a few days later after the signal led them to his Cambridge garage, where 15 bricks of the phony coke were found hidden in his Sea-Doo.
Justice Casey Hill rejected Cook’s contention that he knew they were fake drugs and had been told to take them home for safekeeping only to be framed later by his superiors, Williams and Rykhoff.
But on learning late last month from Crown prosecutors David Rowcliffe and Anya Weiler that their two key witnesses are now under police investigation themselves, Cook’s lawyer Patrick Ducharme demanded a mistrial, or at the very least, a reopening of the trial.
The judge refused both requests, saying that no matter what happens with the investigation into Williams and Rykhoff, it wouldn’t affect his conclusion that Cook was also guilty.
Hill said he’d been highly critical of both officers in his judgment and was very careful in what he believed of their testimony.
In fact, it was the judge’s harsh words for both cops during his verdict in June that led to their suspension and the launch of an internal affairs investigation two days later.
“As shocking as it may be to many, in my view, the two principal Crown witnesses, both sworn police officers, must be treated as suspect or tainted witnesses,” the judge had said in his 141-page decision.
He accused Williams of perjury, saying he lied to the court because of a “dangerous and warped code” of not snitching on a fellow officer.
The judge was even more scathing when it came to Rykhoff, saying he not only lied during his testimony but it was also “likely” that he “did remove” a box of the fake cocaine from the courier truck.
The judge noted that eight of the slit-open bricks were found in a dumpster 2.8 miles from Rykhoff’s home and that the Crown’s submissions admitted it “was probable that Rykhoff was involved with the accused in skimming a number of bricks of suspected cocaine from the bad guy’s load.”
This is the same officer, court heard, who was docked five days pay for pretending to be sick when he was actually partying it up at a college football game in Halifax the day after he was involved in the “drug” seizure.
It all sounds like a page torn out of the old Keystone Kops comedies, except the only ones laughing are the lucky drug smugglers who didn’t get stung.
Cook’s sentencing hearing continues next month.
Read Mandel Wednesday through Saturday. michele.mandel@sunmedia.ca or 416-947-2231
Friday, July 30, 2010
Two and half years Paid Vacation for Ottawa Police Constable Harinderpal Mamak
Source: Ottawa Police
29/07/2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, July 29, 2010 11:15am
(Ottawa) – Earlier today, Retired Deputy Chief Terence Kelly who was overseeing the Police Services Act charges against Ottawa Police Constable Harinderpal Mamak rendered a decision requiring the officer to resign within seven days or face dismissal.
His decision followed a Police Services Act trial that began on February 11, 2008, where the officer plead not guilty. On September 22, 2009, Mr. Kelly found Cst. Mamak guilty of one count of insubordination and one count of breach of confidence.
The Professional Standards Section of the Ottawa Police laid the two Police Act charges following an internal investigation. On December 12, 2007 Cst. Mamak was charged with one count of Insubordination (without lawful excuse, disobeyed a lawful order pertaining to access of CPIC) and one count of Breach of Confidence (without lawful excuse did divulge information retrieved from CPIC system knowing that it is his duty to keep secret) under the Police Services Act.
During the proceedings, Chief Vern White sought the dismissal of Cst. Mamak from the Ottawa Police given the seriousness of the charges and the importance of maintaining public trust and confidence. Today, Chief White noted: “We accept the decision and will act upon it pending the outcome of any appeals.”
Cst. Mamak, who has been suspended from duty with pay since December 12, 2007 has the right to appeal the decision, within 30 days, to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC). The Ottawa Police Service has no right to appeal in these matters, and as such, will accept the sentencing decision and will act upon it accordingly.
CONTACT: Media Relations Section
Telephone: 613-236-1222, ext. 5366
Ottawa Police Service/Service de police d'Ottawa
www.ottawapolice.ca
29/07/2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, July 29, 2010 11:15am
(Ottawa) – Earlier today, Retired Deputy Chief Terence Kelly who was overseeing the Police Services Act charges against Ottawa Police Constable Harinderpal Mamak rendered a decision requiring the officer to resign within seven days or face dismissal.
His decision followed a Police Services Act trial that began on February 11, 2008, where the officer plead not guilty. On September 22, 2009, Mr. Kelly found Cst. Mamak guilty of one count of insubordination and one count of breach of confidence.
The Professional Standards Section of the Ottawa Police laid the two Police Act charges following an internal investigation. On December 12, 2007 Cst. Mamak was charged with one count of Insubordination (without lawful excuse, disobeyed a lawful order pertaining to access of CPIC) and one count of Breach of Confidence (without lawful excuse did divulge information retrieved from CPIC system knowing that it is his duty to keep secret) under the Police Services Act.
During the proceedings, Chief Vern White sought the dismissal of Cst. Mamak from the Ottawa Police given the seriousness of the charges and the importance of maintaining public trust and confidence. Today, Chief White noted: “We accept the decision and will act upon it pending the outcome of any appeals.”
Cst. Mamak, who has been suspended from duty with pay since December 12, 2007 has the right to appeal the decision, within 30 days, to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC). The Ottawa Police Service has no right to appeal in these matters, and as such, will accept the sentencing decision and will act upon it accordingly.
CONTACT: Media Relations Section
Telephone: 613-236-1222, ext. 5366
Ottawa Police Service/Service de police d'Ottawa
www.ottawapolice.ca
Friday, July 23, 2010
Toronto Police Officer Charged
Source: TPS
Broadcast time: 15:49
Friday, July 23, 2010
Public Information
416−808−7100
A Toronto Police Service officer has been arrested and charged.
Constable Abdullah Khalid, 29, with one year of service, is a member of 43 Division.
It is alleged that:
− in June 2008, the accused provided fraudulent documents to a financial institution for a homeowner's mortgage.
He has been charged with:
1) Attempt to Obtain Credit by False Pretences,
2) Conspiracy to Commit an Indictable Offence.
He is scheduled to appear in court at Old City Hall, on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, room 111, at 11 a.m.
Broadcast time: 15:49
Friday, July 23, 2010
Public Information
416−808−7100
A Toronto Police Service officer has been arrested and charged.
Constable Abdullah Khalid, 29, with one year of service, is a member of 43 Division.
It is alleged that:
− in June 2008, the accused provided fraudulent documents to a financial institution for a homeowner's mortgage.
He has been charged with:
1) Attempt to Obtain Credit by False Pretences,
2) Conspiracy to Commit an Indictable Offence.
He is scheduled to appear in court at Old City Hall, on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, room 111, at 11 a.m.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
OPP officers' case delayed
Source:Barrie Examiner
Posted By SHAWN GIILCK, QMI AGENCY
The court case against the two Collingwood OPP officers charged with assault has been put off until Aug. 17.
Provincial Const. Jeremy Shiffman, 38, a five-year member of the OPP, and Provincial Const. Ashley Plumb, 26, a three-year member of the OPP, have each been charged with assault following an incident involving a woman on the Black Ash Trail.
According to police, on the morning of June 1, a 34-year-old Collingwood woman was out walking along the Black Ash Trail. At the same time, two people -- a man and a woman -- were running along the trail when a physical altercation occurred between them and the woman.
Shiffman and Plumb appeared briefly in Collingwood's Ontario Court of Justice Tuesday.
The two officers were charged on June 17 following an investigation by the OPP's Professional Standards Bureau. They have been assigned to administrative duties.
The Crown Attorney's office has not yet provided Plumb and Shiffman with disclosure, a legal representative said. Each officer is represented by a different lawyer.
The case was bound over until Aug. 17 at 9:30 a.m. to allow time for the disclosure to be provided.
In legal terms, disclosure is the presentation of all evidence collected by the police and the Crown Attorney's office pertaining to the case to the defence lawyers. Providing that material is mandatory
Posted By SHAWN GIILCK, QMI AGENCY
The court case against the two Collingwood OPP officers charged with assault has been put off until Aug. 17.
Provincial Const. Jeremy Shiffman, 38, a five-year member of the OPP, and Provincial Const. Ashley Plumb, 26, a three-year member of the OPP, have each been charged with assault following an incident involving a woman on the Black Ash Trail.
According to police, on the morning of June 1, a 34-year-old Collingwood woman was out walking along the Black Ash Trail. At the same time, two people -- a man and a woman -- were running along the trail when a physical altercation occurred between them and the woman.
Shiffman and Plumb appeared briefly in Collingwood's Ontario Court of Justice Tuesday.
The two officers were charged on June 17 following an investigation by the OPP's Professional Standards Bureau. They have been assigned to administrative duties.
The Crown Attorney's office has not yet provided Plumb and Shiffman with disclosure, a legal representative said. Each officer is represented by a different lawyer.
The case was bound over until Aug. 17 at 9:30 a.m. to allow time for the disclosure to be provided.
In legal terms, disclosure is the presentation of all evidence collected by the police and the Crown Attorney's office pertaining to the case to the defence lawyers. Providing that material is mandatory
Sunday, July 18, 2010
If it looks like a tax, chances are it is a tax
Source: Ottawa Sun
Home / Comment / Editorial
William Shakespeare once wrote that a rose by any other name is still a rose. The same could be said about the new eco fee that the provincial government snuck in on July 1 by taking advantage of the din around the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). If it looks like a tax, and hurts like a tax, chances are it is a tax, no matter what the minions in Toronto say.
The reaction to the eco tax (we will not call it a fee, that is just nonsense) has been slow in developing, primarily because of the way it was snuck in, without prior debate or knowledge of opposition MPPs so they could at least vigorously question it during question period. Only now, two weeks later, are people starting to feel the sting of this eco tax, and are starting to scream loud enough to wake up their MPPs.
Consider this: On more than 5,000 everyday products you purchase, there is now an eco tax that ranges from 20% to 40%, and more in some cases.
Ostensibly, this is to cover the cost of recycling these products or their containers by a nearly anonymous group called the Ontario Stewardship Council, an unelected, unaccountable group of lobbyists and tree-huggers with little care how their tax will impact on middle-income and elderly Ontarians. A simple bottle of Javex bleach, on sale in many stores last week for 99 cents, cost you $1.52 before you left the store after 15 cents for the HST and 38 cents for the eco tax were added at the cash.
This affects a wide range of products, everything from electric razors and toothbrushes, to batteries, to sunblock, flashlights, detergent ... you name it, and the province will be digging into your pocket for the recycling fee (eco tax) it says it needs to dispose of its remains safely ... despite the fact municipalities already tax you for recycling and disposal.
This should get your blood boiling, not just for the underhanded way it was implemented, but for the simple fact that it is precisely what is meant by the term "taxation without representation," which is illegal under the British North America Act. There was no discussion, no feedback, no due process.
Is that a democracy?
Home / Comment / Editorial
William Shakespeare once wrote that a rose by any other name is still a rose. The same could be said about the new eco fee that the provincial government snuck in on July 1 by taking advantage of the din around the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). If it looks like a tax, and hurts like a tax, chances are it is a tax, no matter what the minions in Toronto say.
The reaction to the eco tax (we will not call it a fee, that is just nonsense) has been slow in developing, primarily because of the way it was snuck in, without prior debate or knowledge of opposition MPPs so they could at least vigorously question it during question period. Only now, two weeks later, are people starting to feel the sting of this eco tax, and are starting to scream loud enough to wake up their MPPs.
Consider this: On more than 5,000 everyday products you purchase, there is now an eco tax that ranges from 20% to 40%, and more in some cases.
Ostensibly, this is to cover the cost of recycling these products or their containers by a nearly anonymous group called the Ontario Stewardship Council, an unelected, unaccountable group of lobbyists and tree-huggers with little care how their tax will impact on middle-income and elderly Ontarians. A simple bottle of Javex bleach, on sale in many stores last week for 99 cents, cost you $1.52 before you left the store after 15 cents for the HST and 38 cents for the eco tax were added at the cash.
This affects a wide range of products, everything from electric razors and toothbrushes, to batteries, to sunblock, flashlights, detergent ... you name it, and the province will be digging into your pocket for the recycling fee (eco tax) it says it needs to dispose of its remains safely ... despite the fact municipalities already tax you for recycling and disposal.
This should get your blood boiling, not just for the underhanded way it was implemented, but for the simple fact that it is precisely what is meant by the term "taxation without representation," which is illegal under the British North America Act. There was no discussion, no feedback, no due process.
Is that a democracy?
Friday, July 16, 2010
Street Racing OPP officer # two for the month of July
OPP Const. Edward Phillipo, 39 is the second officer charged with stunt driving in the month of July.
Const. Edward Phillipo put his crusier into a a ditch and wrote it off, thankfully he only recieved minor injuries, his licence was suspended for seven days.
This is our tax dollars at work
Const. Edward Phillipo put his crusier into a a ditch and wrote it off, thankfully he only recieved minor injuries, his licence was suspended for seven days.
This is our tax dollars at work
OPP officer charged with Street Racing as result of crashed cruiser
Source: Miner and News
Posted By Lloyd Mack
THUNDER BAY - The Ontario Provincial Police reported Thursday it has charged one of its own for racing a cruiser while in early July.
The OPP Technical Collision investigator and members of the Northwest Region Highway Safety Division conducted an investigation following an early morning July 9 single vehicle crash on Highway 17 in the town of Screiber. At approximately 5:40 a.m. a Schreiber OPP vehicle travelling eastbound left the roadway. The officer was transported to McCausland Hospital in Terrace Bay by ambulance where he was treated for minor injuries and released. The cruiser was demolished in the collision.
As a result of the investigation, 22-year-old Provincial Const.Evan Winslow, who has been a member of the OPP for 14 months, was charged with race motor vehicle contrary to section 172(3)(i) of the Highway Traffic Act. The officer's driver's licence has been suspended for seven days. He is scheduled to appear in provincial court in Schreiber on Sept. 13.
Posted By Lloyd Mack
THUNDER BAY - The Ontario Provincial Police reported Thursday it has charged one of its own for racing a cruiser while in early July.
The OPP Technical Collision investigator and members of the Northwest Region Highway Safety Division conducted an investigation following an early morning July 9 single vehicle crash on Highway 17 in the town of Screiber. At approximately 5:40 a.m. a Schreiber OPP vehicle travelling eastbound left the roadway. The officer was transported to McCausland Hospital in Terrace Bay by ambulance where he was treated for minor injuries and released. The cruiser was demolished in the collision.
As a result of the investigation, 22-year-old Provincial Const.Evan Winslow, who has been a member of the OPP for 14 months, was charged with race motor vehicle contrary to section 172(3)(i) of the Highway Traffic Act. The officer's driver's licence has been suspended for seven days. He is scheduled to appear in provincial court in Schreiber on Sept. 13.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
OPP officer, wife face charges
Source:recorder.ca
Posted By NICK GARDINER, STAFF WRITER
An 11-year veteran OPP officer stationed at the Grenville County detachment in Prescott has been suspended from duty after a police raid Sunday at his Augusta Township residence.
Const. Jim Blanchette, 45, was suspended effective Monday as a result of an investigation launched after police received information alleging there was stolen property in his possession, said OPP spokesman Sgt. Kristine Rae.
Rae said the investigation was launched immediately by the OPP professional standards bureau.
During Sunday's raid, police seized several miscellaneous antique items, including furniture, eight unrestricted long guns and one restricted handgun, said Rae.
Blanchette and his wife Robin, 44, have been charged with nine counts of careless storage of a firearm, nine counts of possession of an unregistered weapon and one count of possession of property obtained by crime.
They were released from police custody on conditions and a promise to appear in Brockville court Sept. 24.
Rae said Blanchette is suspended with pay, according to the Police Services Act.
Posted By NICK GARDINER, STAFF WRITER
An 11-year veteran OPP officer stationed at the Grenville County detachment in Prescott has been suspended from duty after a police raid Sunday at his Augusta Township residence.
Const. Jim Blanchette, 45, was suspended effective Monday as a result of an investigation launched after police received information alleging there was stolen property in his possession, said OPP spokesman Sgt. Kristine Rae.
Rae said the investigation was launched immediately by the OPP professional standards bureau.
During Sunday's raid, police seized several miscellaneous antique items, including furniture, eight unrestricted long guns and one restricted handgun, said Rae.
Blanchette and his wife Robin, 44, have been charged with nine counts of careless storage of a firearm, nine counts of possession of an unregistered weapon and one count of possession of property obtained by crime.
They were released from police custody on conditions and a promise to appear in Brockville court Sept. 24.
Rae said Blanchette is suspended with pay, according to the Police Services Act.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Officer charged after prisoner roughed up: SIU
Source:The Toronto Sun
By KENNETH JACKSON, QMI Agency
OTTAWA - A Hawkesbury OPP officer has been charged with assault causing bodily harm after a prisoner was roughed up while in a cell in March, the Special Investigation Unit said Friday.
A 21-year-old man was searched by an officer while walking in the Vankleek Hill area March 20.
He was arrested for reasons that were not made available Friday and lodged in a cell.
During this time, "there was an interaction between an officer and the man" leaving the man with serious injuries.
Const. Jean Philippe Mathieu is charge with one count of assault causing bodily harm.
The officer is required to appear in court in L'Orignal on Aug. 4.
The SIU said it will not comment on the case because it's now before the courts.
The SIU is an arm's length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
By KENNETH JACKSON, QMI Agency
OTTAWA - A Hawkesbury OPP officer has been charged with assault causing bodily harm after a prisoner was roughed up while in a cell in March, the Special Investigation Unit said Friday.
A 21-year-old man was searched by an officer while walking in the Vankleek Hill area March 20.
He was arrested for reasons that were not made available Friday and lodged in a cell.
During this time, "there was an interaction between an officer and the man" leaving the man with serious injuries.
Const. Jean Philippe Mathieu is charge with one count of assault causing bodily harm.
The officer is required to appear in court in L'Orignal on Aug. 4.
The SIU said it will not comment on the case because it's now before the courts.
The SIU is an arm's length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Peel Police slammed in beating Hamilton suspect
Source: The Spec
July 01, 2010
Tracey Tyler
Torstar News Service
The Ontario Court of Appeal has condemned the “horrendous” conduct of two Peel Region police officers who beat a Hamilton man suspected in a string of Mississauga home invasions, leaving him with a broken jaw and permanent disability.
Jason Tran said the officers who were transporting him to a Peel police station back in 2003 had warned him it would be “the hard way” if he asserted his right to silence and refused to provide a statement.
His decision to follow his lawyer’s advice and say nothing left him with a broken jaw and headaches that still persist.
“Regardless of whether the officers abused Tran to obtain a confession or for some other reason, the essential fact is that they beat him up,” Justice Gloria Epstein said in a decision released late Wednesday.
“Their conduct was despicable regardless of its motivation.”
The court called it shocking no disciplinary action has ever been taken against the officers, who tried to cover up the incident and lied about it later in court.
A three-judge appeal panel also had harsh words for the Crown, for appearing to shrug off the incident after a trial judge concluded Tran was severely beaten and rejected the officers’ story about how it was that he ended up beaten and bloodied in a police interview room.
Justice Michael Tulloch ruled during a pre-trial motion in 2006 that Constable Will Vander Wier had delivered the blow to Tran’s jaw
After the judge’s decision, the Crown continued on as if nothing had happened, inviting the officer to remain seated at the counsel table, beside prosecutors, for the trial.
“The Crown’s conduct was evocative of an alignment with the police, notwithstanding the abuse,” said Epstein, with Justices Robert Sharpe and Janet Simmons agreeing.
The appeal court said the only remedy was to enter a stay of proceedings, effectively quashing Tran’s conviction for conspiracy to commit robbery.
Tran, whose jaw had to be wired shut, was so badly injured that he now bites himself when he eats, has a sore jaw and loose teeth and suffers migraines.
Yet the appeal court was told during oral arguments in January that, despite Tulloch’s findings of serious brutality, no further action has been taken against the officers.
The province’s Special Investigations Unit had launched an investigation, but closed the file without charges on June 6, 2003 and refused to say why, citing confidentiality.
During Tran’s trial in 2006, a lawyer for the SIU advised the court that the unit’s director, John Sutherland, had concluded there were no reasonable grounds for believing the officer had committed any criminal offence.
“It is difficult to understand why or how those responsible for investigating the incident could continue to maintain that there are no reasonable grounds to proceed,” Epstein said.
Tran was found guilty after a 40-day trial in 2006 of conspiring with eight other people to carry out a series of home invasions in the Mississauga-Hamilton area over three months in 2002.
The court was told they were wearing disguises when they were transported to targeted houses by van.
The robberies were apparently aimed at drug dealers who allegedly owed money. But elderly women and an 8-year-old girl were among the victims.
One woman was sexually assaulted and another was told she would be shot if something went wrong.
A man inside one of the homes had a dollar sign carved into his back with a knife by one of the robbers, who also tried to cut off the man’s finger.
Tran turned himself in to Hamilton police on March 27, 2003.
He said officers began telling him on the drive back to Peel that they didn’t want to hear anything about him not wanting to make a statement. At the police station, he was shoved and punched in the ribs and jaw, he said.
During a pre-trial motion before Tulloch three years later, the officers denied assaulting Tran and claimed to have found him on the floor, handcuffed and bleeding from the mouth, after leaving him alone in the interview room for a while.
One of the officers, identified as John Conway in the appeal court’s decision, testified that it looked as though Tran had bitten his lip and that Tran had explained his presence on the floor by saying, “I don’t know, I guess I fell.”
Tulloch, the trial judge, didn’t believe the officers.
The medical evidence showed Tran’s injuries were consistent with a blow to the jaw, not falling on the floor.
Under the circumstances, Tulloch had only two options: to stay the charges against Tran; or to reduce his sentence in recognition that his Charter rights had been seriously violated.
Tulloch opted for the latter, reducing a 28-month sentence by half and giving Tran 14 months plus three years probation.
The trial judge justified his decision by noting that the charges against Tran were serious and society has an interest in seeing these cases through to the end. While the abuse he suffered cannot be condoned, his beating at the hands of police did not affect the quality of the evidence used against him, Tulloch said.
But the appeal court said that didn’t go far enough.
Society’s interest in prosecuting a case is outweighed this time by the affront to decency and fair play caused by the officers’ serious abuses, it said.
“It is essential for the court to distance itself from this kind of state misconduct — an unwarranted, grave assault causing bodily harm, delayed medical attention, a cover up that included perjury, a prosecutorial response that affected the perception of trial fairness and no effective response,” Epstein said.
“Not to do so would be to leave the impression that it tacitly approves of it.”
The court dismissed appeals brought by two of Tran’s co-accused, Hoa Dang and Robert Johnson.
Peter Zaduk, Tran's trial lawyer, said he has been on bail but under virtual house arrest for the past three years, pending his appeal.
July 01, 2010
Tracey Tyler
Torstar News Service
The Ontario Court of Appeal has condemned the “horrendous” conduct of two Peel Region police officers who beat a Hamilton man suspected in a string of Mississauga home invasions, leaving him with a broken jaw and permanent disability.
Jason Tran said the officers who were transporting him to a Peel police station back in 2003 had warned him it would be “the hard way” if he asserted his right to silence and refused to provide a statement.
His decision to follow his lawyer’s advice and say nothing left him with a broken jaw and headaches that still persist.
“Regardless of whether the officers abused Tran to obtain a confession or for some other reason, the essential fact is that they beat him up,” Justice Gloria Epstein said in a decision released late Wednesday.
“Their conduct was despicable regardless of its motivation.”
The court called it shocking no disciplinary action has ever been taken against the officers, who tried to cover up the incident and lied about it later in court.
A three-judge appeal panel also had harsh words for the Crown, for appearing to shrug off the incident after a trial judge concluded Tran was severely beaten and rejected the officers’ story about how it was that he ended up beaten and bloodied in a police interview room.
Justice Michael Tulloch ruled during a pre-trial motion in 2006 that Constable Will Vander Wier had delivered the blow to Tran’s jaw
After the judge’s decision, the Crown continued on as if nothing had happened, inviting the officer to remain seated at the counsel table, beside prosecutors, for the trial.
“The Crown’s conduct was evocative of an alignment with the police, notwithstanding the abuse,” said Epstein, with Justices Robert Sharpe and Janet Simmons agreeing.
The appeal court said the only remedy was to enter a stay of proceedings, effectively quashing Tran’s conviction for conspiracy to commit robbery.
Tran, whose jaw had to be wired shut, was so badly injured that he now bites himself when he eats, has a sore jaw and loose teeth and suffers migraines.
Yet the appeal court was told during oral arguments in January that, despite Tulloch’s findings of serious brutality, no further action has been taken against the officers.
The province’s Special Investigations Unit had launched an investigation, but closed the file without charges on June 6, 2003 and refused to say why, citing confidentiality.
During Tran’s trial in 2006, a lawyer for the SIU advised the court that the unit’s director, John Sutherland, had concluded there were no reasonable grounds for believing the officer had committed any criminal offence.
“It is difficult to understand why or how those responsible for investigating the incident could continue to maintain that there are no reasonable grounds to proceed,” Epstein said.
Tran was found guilty after a 40-day trial in 2006 of conspiring with eight other people to carry out a series of home invasions in the Mississauga-Hamilton area over three months in 2002.
The court was told they were wearing disguises when they were transported to targeted houses by van.
The robberies were apparently aimed at drug dealers who allegedly owed money. But elderly women and an 8-year-old girl were among the victims.
One woman was sexually assaulted and another was told she would be shot if something went wrong.
A man inside one of the homes had a dollar sign carved into his back with a knife by one of the robbers, who also tried to cut off the man’s finger.
Tran turned himself in to Hamilton police on March 27, 2003.
He said officers began telling him on the drive back to Peel that they didn’t want to hear anything about him not wanting to make a statement. At the police station, he was shoved and punched in the ribs and jaw, he said.
During a pre-trial motion before Tulloch three years later, the officers denied assaulting Tran and claimed to have found him on the floor, handcuffed and bleeding from the mouth, after leaving him alone in the interview room for a while.
One of the officers, identified as John Conway in the appeal court’s decision, testified that it looked as though Tran had bitten his lip and that Tran had explained his presence on the floor by saying, “I don’t know, I guess I fell.”
Tulloch, the trial judge, didn’t believe the officers.
The medical evidence showed Tran’s injuries were consistent with a blow to the jaw, not falling on the floor.
Under the circumstances, Tulloch had only two options: to stay the charges against Tran; or to reduce his sentence in recognition that his Charter rights had been seriously violated.
Tulloch opted for the latter, reducing a 28-month sentence by half and giving Tran 14 months plus three years probation.
The trial judge justified his decision by noting that the charges against Tran were serious and society has an interest in seeing these cases through to the end. While the abuse he suffered cannot be condoned, his beating at the hands of police did not affect the quality of the evidence used against him, Tulloch said.
But the appeal court said that didn’t go far enough.
Society’s interest in prosecuting a case is outweighed this time by the affront to decency and fair play caused by the officers’ serious abuses, it said.
“It is essential for the court to distance itself from this kind of state misconduct — an unwarranted, grave assault causing bodily harm, delayed medical attention, a cover up that included perjury, a prosecutorial response that affected the perception of trial fairness and no effective response,” Epstein said.
“Not to do so would be to leave the impression that it tacitly approves of it.”
The court dismissed appeals brought by two of Tran’s co-accused, Hoa Dang and Robert Johnson.
Peter Zaduk, Tran's trial lawyer, said he has been on bail but under virtual house arrest for the past three years, pending his appeal.
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