COP DENIED EXPERT IN COKE TRIAL

Judge Says 'Soft Science' Opinion Irrelevant In Case

Suspended Toronto cop Robert Kelly's bid to have a judge consider expert
opinion that he had an on-the-job cocaine addiction and stress disorder has
been denied. Ontario Court Justice Ian Cowan said in a judgment released in
Brampton court yesterday that he can draw the same inferences from "facts"
admitted at Kelly's guilty pleas to two counts of cocaine possession as he
can from up to five days of "soft-science" opinion based mainly on Kelly's
word.

The evidence of two psychiatrists, a psychologist and a health worker would
be "untested and of so little reliability and probative value as to be
meaningless," Cowan ruled.

Kelly, 37, a highly respected 12-year Toronto Police veteran who has
pleaded guilty to two counts of cocaine possession, was arrested Nov. 16,
2001 in an RCMP sting operation. Kelly was set up by a drug informant who
alleged that Kelly had threatened him over payment of a gambling debt.

Cowan noted that in an agreed statement of facts filed into evidence this
summer, Kelly has admitted that on Nov. 9, 2001, he gave the police "agent"
3.15 grams of cocaine for them to share and a week later was found with
less than one gram when officers arrested him outside a Mississauga bar.

Kelly's lawyer, Peter Brauti, argued that the sentence may have a dramatic
impact on Kelly's employment as a police officer and he should have an
opportunity to "properly put forward" his position.

Prosecutor John North said the expert evidence is irrelevant because it is
based on Kelly's "self-reporting of his background, the incidents that led
to his stress and his addiction."

North suggested during submissions that Kelly posed as a drug addict as an
undercover officer and he could now be feigning a cocaine addiction to get
a lighter sentence.