A pile of criminal cases are about to get a hard second look.
What happened: Around 30 ongoing federal prosecutions are being affected by the corruption scandal that rocked the Toronto Police Services in February, per the Globe and Mail, putting a number of serious cases at risk of being tossed out over their connection to accused officers. The majority of the prosecutions caught in the crosshairs are drug cases.
Corruption and misconduct allegations can sink criminal cases that often rest largely on police officers’ testimony and the evidence they collected.
Catch-up: In what was billed as one of the largest police corruption scandals in Canadian history, seven Toronto police officers were suspended earlier this year and are now facing a flurry of criminal charges.
The officers are accused of participating in drug trafficking, robberies, taking bribes, leaking confidential information to organized crime groups, and even plotting the murder of an Ontario corrections officer.
Some officers allegedly shared sensitive data with gang members, who then used the intel for extortion schemes and shootings across the province.
Why it matters: The ripple effect of the corruption scandal could extend well beyond the 30 or so cases currently being reviewed. Any old case that one of the accused officers worked on could also be reopened, given that police corruption can be introduced as new evidence in an appeal.
Our take: There are likely cases that deserve another look given the corruption allegations, but the reputational damage of this scandal could very well damage prosecutions with no connection to the accused officers. Some experts argue that defence attorneys across the country could use the scandal to try to discredit the testimony of other police officers, as well.—LA
