COP-SHOOTER GETS BAIL

'Relieved, Saddened'; Judge Critical of Police Raid

In a decision believed to be the first of its kind in Canada, a Quebec
Superior Court judge has granted bail to a person accused of murdering
a police officer.

But in rendering his decision at the Montreal courthouse yesterday,
Justice Jean-Guy Boilard noted the first-degree murder case against
Basil Parasiris, 41, carries with it several exceptional
circumstances.

"I won't say it is weak," Boilard noted of the case, "but it is
contestable."

Parasiris has admitted he shot Laval Constable Daniel Tessier during a
March 2 raid at his home on Rimouski Cres. in Brossard.

But as Jacques Larochelle, one of Parasiris's defence lawyers, argued
during the two-day hearing, Parasiris also claims he did not know
Tessier was a police officer when he shot him three times with a .357
Magnum pistol.

Constable Stephane Forbes was also wounded in the operation. The
police were looking for cocaine, accounting records and cellphones as
part of an investigation into an alleged drug ring operating out of
Laval.

At least five other people arrested that day have been charged with
drug trafficking.

When he learned he will soon be released on bail - perhaps as early as
today - Parasiris looked skyward. He smiled, then his eyes turned red.

His wife, Panagiota Gounis, who was wounded during the raid, let out a
loud gasp when she heard the decision. Several of the many relatives
who turned out in support of Parasiris began to cry.

"The accused is happy. So is his family," said another defence lawyer,
Frank Pappas.

"Obviously this is not a time to rejoice. There has been the death of
a person in this matter, which is Constable Tessier, as we all know.
He will not be joining his family today or within the next couple of
days.

"(Parasiris) is relieved but he is also saddened and nobody is
celebrating."

Pappas said that in all the research he and Larochelle did to prepare
for the bail hearing, they could not find a Canadian precedent in
which a person accused of the first-degree murder of a police officer
was released on bail.

Boilard attached a series of conditions to Parasiris's release. They
include a $200,000 bond guaranteed by Chrisa Parasiris, the accused's
37-year-old sister, and John Giorgoudes, a 47-year-old businessman
related to him through marriage. Both offered their homes as
guarantees that Parasiris will respect his conditions.

He is also required to live at his sister's home in Brossard while
awaiting trial, and he had to surrender his passport. Boilard also
imposed a curfew requiring Parasiris to be home between 9 p.m. and 6
a.m.

While testifying before Boilard yesterday morning, Chrisa Parasiris
described her brother as a family man, devoted to his two children.
She said he never misses his son's football games or practices and
always drove his 7-year-old daughter to Greek-language courses and
piano lessons.

"He loves children," she said. "He's an amazing person. A good
heart."

Giorgoudes, who owns an alarm monitoring company,

described Parasiris's extended family as very close.

"We're a strong family. We look out for each other," he told Boilard.
"I think the whole family is united in saying that we will make sure
Parasiris respects the conditions."

An official with the Fraternite des policiers de Laval, which
represents officers on work matters, declined to comment on
Parasiris's being granted bail.

Christine Beaulieu, spokes-person for the Quebec Federation of
Municipal Police Officers, said it would be premature to comment.

"We'll let justice take its course," Beaulieu said.

The issue of Parasiris being a possible flight risk was not raised
during the hearing. Crown prosecutor Joelle St. Germain instead argued
Parasiris posed a potential threat to commit a dangerous crime if released.

But Boilard said he found little evidence to support that. He noted
the Laval police have yet to charge Parasiris with drug
trafficking.

St. Germain described him as someone living "within the subculture of
drug trafficking." Parasiris admitted during an interrogation that he
had been trafficking for three years to get out of financial trouble,
St. Germain added.

The prosecutor also emphasized the fact Parasiris had four loaded guns
in different parts of his house, including three he bought illegally
"off the street."

She also argued Parasiris has given two versions to explain his frame
of mind when the police smashed in his door after 5 a.m. on March 2.

Statements he made shortly after he was informed that he was under
arrest for killing a police officer suggest he was expecting to be the
victim of an underworld settling of accounts.

A nurse at the Charles LeMoyne Hospital overheard him say: "Last week
someone tried to get me."

Hours later, while being interrogated by Surete du Quebec
investigators, he said he thought he was the victim of a home invasion.

St. Germain argued that either way, Parasiris acted recklessly (which,
if proved, can still produce a first-degree murder conviction in cases
involving the deaths of police officers). She said he shot at Tessier
and Forbes without trying to size up what kind of danger he might be
in.

According to evidence presented during the hearing, Tessier was shot
as he approached the door to the master bedroom in Parasiris's house.
St. Germain quoted a statement Parasiris gave to the police in which
he said he "opened the door and saw a face" before he shot Tessier.

He did not say he saw Tessier carrying a weapon.

"Mr. Parasiris did not act like the good father of a family," she
said. "A well-informed public doesn't want to live in a world where
things are solved through the barrel of a gun."

Boilard said he doubted the public's faith in the justice system will
be jeopardized by his decision.

He noted Parasiris appears to have a "few avenues" for a defence. He
also criticized the aggressive force the Laval police used to carry
out the search.

It was Larochelle who raised several questions about why the Laval
police were authorized to use what the police commonly refer to as a
"dynamic entry" when they entered the home.

Officers used a battering ram to force open the front door, and then
nine armed officers stormed inside, yelling: "Police!"

The police sometimes request permission for a "dynamic entry" search
warrant when they believe a suspect might destroy evidence, knowing
officers are on the doorstep. When executing regular search warrants,
the police are required to knock and announce who they are.

Larochelle cited jurisprudence in which judges have determined a
"dynamic entry" should only be authorized in extreme cases and argued
that the March 2 operation did not merit it.

And during an exchange with prosecutor St. Germain, Boilard commented:
"If I accept your reasoning, dynamic entries would be allowed in all
cases."

"Dynamic entry is a euphemism," Larochelle said of what happened on
March 2.

"It was more than dynamic. It was an extreme brutality."

The raid was conducted just after 5 a.m., before sunrise. Evidence
presented at the bail hearing indicates Parasiris fired first,
striking Tessier three times. Three Laval officers responded by firing
14 bullets, but two of them shot into the bedroom door of Parasiris's
15-year-old son, mistakenly assuming the shots had come from behind
it.

Another officer was bumped by a retreating colleague and shot Tessier
in the foot as he lay on the floor, probably already dead. She also
shot Parasiris's wife in the arm. It all occurred within less than 30
seconds in a poorly lit hallway.

Larochelle also noted that while the police knew a teenage boy lived
in the home, they did not know Parasiris had a 7-year-old daughter.
She was not injured, but the bullet that wounded Forbes went through
his arm and travelled across her bedroom.

A preliminary inquiry has been scheduled for August.