ONTARIO APPEALS DRUG SQUAD RULING

Stay Of Charges; Attorney-General Cites Legal Errors By Trial Judge

The Ontario government is appealing a court ruling that stayed all
charges against six former Toronto drug squad officers because of
unreasonable delay by the Crown, following what has been described as
the largest police corruption investigation in Canadian history.

Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer made 18 legal errors when he
stayed the charges, the Ministry of the Attorney-General argues in a
Notice of Appeal filed yesterday.

"The trial judge seriously misapprehended the relevant facts and
misapplied the relevant legal principles in his analysis," states the
Crown in the appeal document.

The Crown is asking the Ontario Court of Appeal to overturn the
ruling and allow it to go ahead with its prosecution of the six
officers, who were facing more than 30 corruption-related charges.

John Schertzer and five of his former drug squad colleagues were
charged in January, 2004, following a multi-million-dollar internal
investigation that was headed by a senior RCMP officer.

The initial investigation of allegations that Toronto police officers
were assaulting alleged drug dealers during raids and stealing money
and narcotics, began in 1998.

Federal prosecutors stayed or dismissed charges in more than 200
cases between 1996 and 2002 as a result of the allegations.

JudgeNordheimer's ruling was extremely critical of the Crown because
the trial of the six officers was scheduled to begin this month, more
thanfour years after charges werefiled.

"No explanation for the glacial progress of this prosecution has been
offered," said Judge Nordheimer inhis Jan. 31 ruling.

The appeal filed by the Crown disputes this conclusion. "There was
ample evidence of the complexity of disclosure," it argues. The judge
made "serious and palpable error regarding the size, complexity

and inherent requirements of the case," states the Crown.

The staying of the charges led to calls from Ontario opposition
parties and defence lawyers who initially made the corruption
allegations for an independent inquiry.

"We are not ruling that out, we are not ruling that in," Ontario
Premier Dalton Mc-Guinty said this week when asked about an inquiry.

The appeal, though, is almost certain to delay any possible inquiry,
because the officers could still face a trial.

Peter Kormos, NDP justice critic in Ontario, said the filing of an
appeal is a "political dodge" by the Liberal government to avoid
publicaccountability.

"The refrain now will be the matter is before the courts," said Mr. Kormos.

The notice of appeal was filed only eight days after the ruling by
Judge Nordheimer, which is unusually quick. The Crown normally does
not file its appeal until close to the 30-day deadline, especially in
high-profile and lengthy prosecutions.

The appeal was expected because the Crown's conduct was criticized
directly by Judge Nordheimer, said a source familiar with the
prosecution. The Crown will be asking the Court of Appeal to blunt
some of the criticism, even if it does not win the appeal, suggested
the source.

An appeal is likely to be heard in the fall of 2009.