4-HOUR DRIVE FOR 2 MINUTES IN COURT

A Toronto police constable facing four sets of criminal charges scoffed at
having to drive from Windsor to make a brief court appearance Tuesday in
connection with 13 corruption counts filed against the former drug squad
officer.

"What a joke," said Const. Ned Maodus, 41, outside a Toronto courtroom,
after he learned the Crown was withdrawing a warrant for his arrest.

"I drove all the way from Windsor for this," the officer added, after the
two-minute-long hearing.

A discretionary warrant had been issued against the officer because he did
not attend two previous court dates as required and did not provide any
explanation.

He has yet to hire a lawyer on the corruption charges.

Last Friday, Crown attorney Milan Rupic told the court he was "very
concerned about Maodus's conduct in these proceedings." However, the
prosecutor did not ask for any explanation from the officer Tuesday. Rupic
told the justice of the peace that "given Mr. Maodus's appearance, it (the
warrant) is simply rescinded."

Maodus, who is suspended with pay, is required to live at his parents' home
in Windsor as a result of bail conditions connected to the criminal charges,
which include various weapons offences, sexual assault, uttering threats and
possession of cocaine and heroin for the purpose of trafficking.

In August 2002, Superior Court Justice Emile Kruzick issued an extraordinary
ban and refused to release transcripts of Maodus's bail hearing in the
sexual assault case.

Maodus is one of six former drug squad officers who were charged in January
with a total of 40 corruption-related charges, after a nearly 30-month
internal task force led by RCMP Chief Supt. John Neily.

Free on bail

The officers are all free on bail pending a trial that is not expected to
begin before the fall of 2005.

Last month, Const. Robert Kelly, the first Toronto officer charged by the
task force in November 2002, received a suspended sentence after pleading
guilty to cocaine possession. An internal disciplinary hearing for Kelly is
scheduled for later this month.

Neily said he had "reasonable and probable grounds" to lay charges against
12 drug squad officers in a June 2003 affidavit unsealed recently.

The Crown has not explained why it decided to lay charges against only six
officers. A spokesman for the Toronto police said this week more internal
disciplinary charges are likely, although he could not say when they would
be announced.