JUDGE DROPS HEROIN CHARGES AGAINST MAN BEATEN BY POLICE

A man has a right to take an innocent late-night walk without being waylaid
and beaten up by police -- even if he turns out to be carrying heroin, a
Toronto judge has ruled.

Tossing out heroin-trafficking charges against Vincenzo Pitaro, Ontario
Court Judge Joseph Bovard said police lied to obscure the fact that they
stopped Mr. Pitaro "on a phantom of a suspicion that he might be up to
something."

Judge Bovard said the two Toronto police officers who accosted Mr. Pitaro
on Sept. 27, 2001, were on a "fishing expedition," and stopped the man to
note his identity for possible future use.

"It is troubling that the police think it is justifiable to stop a person
in these circumstances because it might prove helpful for an investigation
that does not even exist yet," Judge Bovard said.

"In Canada, it is perfectly all right to take a walk down the street on
which one lives -- even if it is 3:24 a.m."

A hairdresser in the Bloor and Christie area of downtown Toronto, Mr.
Pitaro, 55, has a long record of drug and fraud offences.

He testified that upon pointing out to the police that they lacked
reasonable cause to search him, one officer leapt from the cruiser and
began pummelling him and smashing his head against the sidewalk.

"Probable cause? Here, I'll show you reasonable cause," Mr. Pitaro quoted
the officer as yelling.

Defence lawyer Howard Goldkind said that when his client was brought in for
a bail hearing, he was an appalling sight. "He came in looking like he'd
done 10 rounds with Muhammed Ali."

In his ruling, Judge Bovard described the violence as "completely
unjustifiable." He said Mr. Pitaro was hit dozens of times but never hit
back, since his hands were handcuffed behind his back.