DRUG SQUAD OFFICERS ON TRIAL

An elite group of Toronto drug squad officers intimidated drug
dealers, stole their money and lied in courts to escape "the reach of
the law," the Crown alleged Monday.

"They engaged in unjustified acts of physical violence against people
in their custody," prosecutor John Pearson told a jury in a three-hour
opening statement for the long-awaited trial of five former members of
the Central Field Command.

John Schertzer, 54, Steve Correia, 44, Ned Maodus, 48, Joseph Miched,
53, and Raymond Pollard, 47, collectively face 29 charges - laid in
January 2004 - including obstructing justice, perjury, assault and
extortion related to their work between 1997 and 2002.

Each has pleaded not guilty to all the charges which are linked to
five drug investigations.

"The defendants tried to cover their tracks to protect themselves from
the reach of the law," he said.

They falsified notes to conceal illegal searches, withheld vital
information from the drug cases they were investigating and they lied
in court, Pearson said.

The first victim, part-time pot dealer Christopher Quigley testified
Monday how he was pummeled into unconsciousness by Maodus and his
partner, under the watchful eye of their "boss" Schertzer.

Court heard that on April 30, 1998, Quigley, 46, left police custody
with a bloody nose, sore ribs and a forehead gash that required
stitches to close it. Photos of his battered face were displayed in court.

Schertzer watched while Maodus and other officers inflicted a lengthy
attack on Quigley to extort information from him about where he hid
his drugs and money, Pearson alleged.

While Quigley was detained, drug squad cops obtained warrants to
search both his and his mom's north Toronto home, he said.

When they searched his mother's residence, they discovered she was
holding his cash in a bank safety deposit box, Pearson said.

Schertzer and Correia subsequently seized about $54,000 from the
safety deposit box, but reported seizing only $22,850, the prosecutor said.

Police alleged "upon hearing the news of his mother's home being
searched, Quigley became violent and punched one of the officers,
which caused Maodus and another officer to restrain Quigley," thus
causing these injuries, said Pearson.