ALMOST 50 DRUG CASES IN LIMBO

Cloud Over Police Squad Seen As Factor In Staying Of Charges

The number of criminal cases in limbo and likely forever on hold
because of the cloud over police drug squad officers has grown to
nearly 50, according to a federal document.

According to a justice department document, 81 people accused in 47
cases have had charges against them stayed or withdrawn at the request
of federal crown attorneys since Dec. 6.

Although officials refuse to discuss detailed reasons for the stays,
it is clear certain officers connected to the cases are, or have been,
under recent internal investigation and would make poor witnesses and
make successful prosecutions unlikely.

The document, which has been filed in an ongoing court case, involves
three officers assigned to Central Field Command drug squad. It lists
the cases and dates the charges were stayed. In four of the cases,
charges were withdrawn altogether. One case was adjourned. The rest
were placed in limbo when all charges were stayed.

A stay means the crown may try a case at a later date, but it must do
so within a year.

It also means an accused walks free and any money seized as proceeds
must be returned. In some of the cases, the accused were considered
flight risks and had been held in jail awaiting trial. They too walked
free.

None of the stayed drug cases has yet been reactivated.

Until now, an exact number of cases affected had not been
known.

Defence lawyers believe the number to be even higher than the 47
included in the justice department list, which includes cases affected
from Dec. 6 to May 23. At least one case has ended with stayed charges
since then, according to an affidavit sworn by Toronto defence lawyer
Edward Sapiano.

Sapiano's affidavit, which has been filed in an ongoing case involving
one of his clients, also adds details to four theft allegations made
by drug suspects about officers in the drug squad. Those complaints
were investigated by internal affairs detectives and dismissed in April.

In one case, a female client of Sapiano's complained that between
$3,000 and $7,000 in currency and valuables went missing during a
search of her apartment by six officers.

In another, a drug suspect being represented by Clayton Ruby
complained that two of the same officers were involved in a search of
his home during which $15,000 in currency and two diamond rings worth
about $10,000 allegedly went missing.

In the two other cases, suspects being represented by other lawyers
complained they had each lost about $5,000 in cash after police had
searched their homes.

In late April, Internal Affairs Superintendent Robert Strathdee wrote
letters to Sapiano and Ruby stating the investigations into complaints
of theft made by their clients had ended and that there were no
reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges. The letters have also been
filed in court.

According to sources, officers have been cleared of the two remaining
complaints as well.

But suddenly last month, police investigators activated a new probe
into some members of the drug squad.

That investigation is ongoing and is not connected to the original
complaints filed by the group of lawyers on behalf of their clients,
the sources said.

It's unclear just how many Toronto police officers from the Central
Field Command drug squad are involved.

Last November, a Toronto drug squad exhibits officer was pulled over
by police while driving home. A large amount of hashish was discovered
in the car. Constable Mark Denton, in charge of processing seized
drugs for the squad, now faces a charge of possession of hashish for
the purpose of trafficking.

After a meeting between senior federal prosecution officials and
senior Toronto officers, crown attorneys then began to quietly pull
cases involving Denton and other officers attached to the squad due to
possible "disclosure" issues.

The 47 cases on the justice department list involve one or more of
three other officers that members of the defence bar had specifically
asked about, said Tom Beveridge, deputy section head of criminal
prosecutions for the justice department.

Beveridge wouldn't discuss specific reasons for the stays and
cautioned not to draw conclusions based solely on the fact they appear
on a single list.

"We stay cases for any number of reasons," Beveridge said yesterday.
"All I can tell you about that is that these are the three (officers)
they asked about and we provided them."

Meanwhile, the financial fallout of the stayed proceedings - including
the return of suspected proceeds of crime, money spent on
investigations and police overtime, and wasted court time - continues
to grow. Eight of the 47 cases had reached the more costly stage of
trial before crown attorneys were forced to pull the plug.

Officials say it's difficult to estimate how much money has been lost,
or how many more cases may be affected by problems within the drug
squad.