ADDING REPUGNANT INSULT TO A FAMILY'S INJURY

WHAT'S MORE frightening than one bad cop is a police force that
deliberately and contemptuously twists the law in a misguided application
of enforcement.

That makes them bullies and morally repugnant.

I cannot remember a case more tainted by ass-covering and manipulation and
browbeating than the horrific experience of the Romagnuolo family - an
otherwise law-abiding clan whose one minor, measly brush with police
mutated into a tragedy of wretched proportions: the death of a father,
grievous injury to one son, serious criminal charges against another; a
family near-ruined if not for their own bonds of blood and remarkable
emotional strength.

Arrayed against the Romagnuolo family is not one but three police
departments, two of which are literally adversaries: it was officers from
York and Durham Region who, acting in tandem and for incomprehensible
reasons, were on the scene at the Romagnuolo home last Dec. 28. It was a
confrontation that erupted in gunfire.

One of the officers, York Region Constable Randy Martin, was later charged
with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of the
Romagnuolo patriarch, Tony. York Constable Mike Hoskin faces a
weapons-related charge stemming from a confrontation with Enzo Romagnuolo,
the oldest of the Tony and Linda's three sons. Durham Region Constable Al
Robins is charged with aggravated assault and assault causing bodily harm
in connection with a stomach wound suffered by middle son Rocco.

Enzo Romagnuolo was charged with assault causing bodily harm to a police
officer, assault with intent to resist arrest and uttering threats. His
trial is expected in January.

No date has been set for the police officers' trial. And earlier this year
the Romagnuolos launched a $40 million lawsuit against the officers, their
forces and police boards.

All this because Rocco Romagnuolo - eight days before the calamity at his
family's home - had been pulled over by Hoskins on suspicion of drunk
driving. Thereafter followed a series of discretionary calls by the cops
and the public can judge for themselves what motivated them: an impaired
charge against Rocco even though he blew well below the legal limit; a
subsequent search of Rocco's car that earned the teenager a further charge
of drug possession.

Zero-point-five grams of marijuana.

Do you have any idea what a tiny quantity that is? It's barely enough to
roll even one decent joint. Only the most pedantic of cops would lay a
charge over 0.5 grams of grass. Such quantities are routinely ignored by
officers as beneath their interest. When prosecuted at all, individuals are
invariably directed to diversion programs, perhaps a bit of community
service. That means no record.

On Wednesday, a crown attorney dropped the impaired driving charge because
there was ``no reasonable prospect of conviction.'' A lawyer representing
the federal crown withdrew the drug charge.

But Tony Romagnuolo is still dead. Enzo Romagnuolo still faces trial for
assaulting police. Rocco Romagnuolo is 30 pounds lighter after two
surgeries, a tracheotomy and a lengthy hospital convalescence. And for what?

Oh, but the cavalcade of horrors don't end there. Police careers hang in
the balance. And the Ontario Provincial Police - given carriage of the case
against Enzo Romagnuolo - have embarked on a most unusual and unpardonably
scheming end-run in order to obtain information through the back door that
they could not, apparently, get through the front.

The OPP went before a justice of the peace (low-rung members of the
judiciary) and secured a warrant to search the premises of the special
investigations unit. Detective Superintendent Larry Edgar, director of the
criminal investigation bureau of the OPP, would not reveal to the Star
interview yesterday what, precisely, they were after.

``We were asked to conduct a criminal investigation and we followed the
normal investigative process,'' Edgar insisted. ``We are not doing a
parallel investigation to the SIU.''

Edgar also says the OPP has obtained search warrants in the past against
fellow police agencies, so this move is not unprecedented. ``We've even
executed search warrants against ourselves,'' he said..

The objective with this warrant, while not stipulated, is not difficult to
surmise. This isn't rocket science.

The Romagnuolos, understandably, have refused to be interviewed by the OPP,
which is building the case against Enzo. But the family did give statements
to the SIU, which investigated the altercation and resulted in charges
against the officers. The SIU's frail credibility rests almost entirely on
its ability to promise confidentiality to witnesses - and, further, to
witness officers who provide statements when civilians are killed or
seriously injured by police. So bizarre has this situation become that even
the Toronto Police Association - no friend of the SIU - has indicated it
will likely support the agency's efforts to quash the warrant.

That warrant has already been served, but a proviso forbids OPP
investigators from unsealing the documents for 14 days, giving the SIU time
to thwart the warrant.

Last week, my colleague Nick Pron tried to get a copy of the information
sworn in the affidavit which OPP presented to that justice of the peace in
order to get the warrant. Such material has always been designated a public
document. For two days Pron got the runaround, until Lynn Norris, manager
of court operations for the Ontario Court of Justice in the region of Peel,
revealed that, upon consultation with legal experts, the view was that
these are not public documents after all. Can't have 'em.

The Star begs to differ, and will do so officially in court on Tuesday.

I don't expect the public to grasp such byzantine matters. But imagine
yourself going up against such an alliance of police institutions, courts
and crown prosecutors. Imagine looking for justice in a system where you, a
civilian, are the only outsider.

Imagine yourself a Romagnuolo.