LAWYER - NO DRUGS, NO CRIME

Peel Officer Maintains His Innocence

A Peel Regional Police officer accused of trafficking cocaine wants
the charges dropped because he wasn't found with drugs.

The lawyer for 38-year-old Const. Sheldon Cook wants to know how his
client can be charged with trafficking cocaine by the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police (RCMP) when the substance seized by investigators on
the night of the arrest wasn't an illegal drug.

Describing Cook's Nov. 18 arrest as a "(controlled drug) delivery gone
wrong," defence lawyer Alan Gold said Friday that information he has
obtained from the RCMP shows the substance found at Cook's home was a
flour-like substance meant to look like cocaine. It was being used by
the RCMP in a drug sting, said Gold.

A truck driver who was not in on the sting was taking a bogus shipment
of drugs to a Mississauga address, well-placed sources say. That
shipment was secretly monitored by the RCMP.

But, said Gold, the sting took a strange turn when the truck driver
phoned Peel Police in a panic, believing there was something
suspicious about the shipment he was delivering.

Peel Police officers responded and found a substance they knew wasn't
cocaine, said Gold.

But, that evening, Cook was arrested by the RCMP after federal
officers tracked the bogus drugs to a home in Cambridge.

Cook was subsequently charged with possession of cocaine, possession
of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and breach of trust.

Cook, a 14-year veteran who works out of Mississauga's 12 Division,
remains suspended with pay by the force until his case is dealt with
through the courts.

He is vigorously defending himself, said Gold.

The RCMP operates on the theory that they "always get their man," but
on that night, they decided "any man would do," Gold said in court.

Gold was in court Friday before Justice Bruce Durno, attempting to
have charges against Cook stayed or dismissed. The case has been put
over to March 3.

Court documents obtained by The News Friday allege Cook's defence has
been "impaired" by Peel Police, who would wouldn't let the defence
team interview other police officers who witnessed the Nov. 18 incident.

"The harm caused by preventing the defence from interviewing relevant
witnesses at an early stage is irreparable and as a result, a stay of
proceedings is the only appropriate remedy," say court documents.

A sworn affidavit reveals that a private investigator working for Gold
tried to interview an officer back in November, but was told by a Peel
Inspector that the force's "position with respect to the Cook matter
is that the situation occurred 'on duty' and that the matter was still
being investigated, therefore all involved officers have been ordered
not to discuss the case with anyone outside of Peel Police."

This order has violated Cook's Charter right to properly defend
himself, said Gold.

Meanwhile, Justice Canada has decided not to prosecute more than
half-a-dozen drug cases where Cook was the arresting officer, due to
the unlikelihood of a conviction, according to Justice Canada
spokesperson Paula Creighan.

Just a month after Cook was charged, a judge acquitted former Toronto
Argonaut Orlando Bowen of drugs and assaulting police charges which
were laid by Cook and another officer.