GTA personal trainer exonerated after being charged in RIDE initiative

Couldn't give proper breath sample due to medical issues.

Exonerated

Leanne Redlich, 43, is relieved to be exonerated after an ordeal that saw her charged by Peel Regional Police back in 2012.

Mississauga News
               

By Louie Rosella

                                         

MISSISSAUGA — No matter how many times she tried, Leanne Redlich just couldn't muster up the strength.                         

                   

The 43-year-old Etobicoke mother of four says she has medical conditions that put limits on her everyday life, and prevented her from complying with a Peel Regional Police officer's demand to give a breath sample into an approved screening device two years ago when she was pulled over during a holiday RIDE initiative.

                       

Despite that, Redlich was charged criminally with failing to provide a breath sample. Under provincial law, Redlich lost her licence for 90 days and her Hummer SUV was impounded. She also had to pay thousands in legal fees before she was finally acquitted in Brampton court this year.

                       

"It's been a nightmare," said Redlich, a personal trainer, wellness coach and owner of FitPro Edge Inc. "I'm a professional business woman and there was no logical reason for me to be charged. There was absolutely zero negligence on my part."

                       

Redlich said she had dinner with a friend and had just left a Port Credit restaurant in the late evening on Dec. 11, 2012 when she was pulled over near Hurontario Street and Lakeshore Road.

                        

Court documents show the officer was Peel Const. Pawel Papis, whose been with the force since 2009. He asked Redlich to provide a breath sample to see how much alcohol was in her system.

                       

An officer in Ontario is within his rights to ask for a breath sample. The approved screening device is merely calibrated to show if the person would pass, fail or receive a warning.

                        

Redlich said she explained to the officer her multiple ailments and, after several unsuccessful attempts to register a reading on the device, she was charged.

                       

"He just kept telling me that I had to do the test," she said. "He was overbearing and overpowering. I didn't have anything to drink."

                       

Though Redlich wasn't charged during a RIDE spot-check, her name was on a list of people charged during the force's Festive Season RIDE Campaign in 2012.

                       

Redlich's vehicle was impounded and her licence was suspended for 90 days.

                       

Court documents show Redlich was arrested and charged with failing or refusing to provide a breath sample "without reasonable excuse."

                        

Peel Regional Police have not responded to a request for comment on the case.

                       

The case went to court and in the middle of the trial, after Pawis testified and was cross-examined, the Crown invited the judge to acquit Redlich, according to her lawyer, Calvin Barry.

                       

As a result, Justice Steven R. Clark found Redlich not guilty of the charge this past summer.

                       

"The officer was inconsistent in a lot of his testimony. His notes were so shoddy that the Crown Attorney invited the judge to acquit," Barry said.

                       

Ontario's Attorney General's Office spokesperson Brendan Crawley referred The News to the judge's ruling when asked  for comment on the acquittal.

                       

Barry said he and Redlich were prepared to introduce medical evidence that proved she wasn't capable of providing a breath sample. He added his client is relieved the ordeal is over.

                       

"In her case, this was just stressful because it was hanging over her head," he said.

                       

Barry said he understands why the officer charged Redlich because drivers could obviously try to lie their way out of providing a breath sample.

                       

But Barry said he vehemently opposes the laws that allow police to impound vehicles and suspend driver's licences when the charges haven't worked their way through the court.

                       

"It's unfair. You're supposed to be presumed innocent," he said. "And in this case, where the accused is fully exonerated, who is going to give my client her 90-day suspension back?"

                       

Redlich is looking forward to continuing her work as a personal trainer and putting more time into Project Smiles, a non-profit organization which she founded that seeks to raise money for children's charities such as Ronald McDonald House.

                       

Follow Louie Rosella on Twitter @LouieMissiNews

 

http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/5228286-gta-personal-trainer-exonerated-after-being-charged-in-ride-initiative/

Lawyer Eddie Greenspan, 70, had passion for justice

By Shawn Jeffords, Toronto Sun
                                                    

First posted: Wednesday, December 24, 2014 10:31 AM EST | Updated: Wednesday, December 24, 2014 03:43 PM EST

 
Eddie Greenspan (Toronto Sun files)

TORONTO - Edward Greenspan, one of Canada’s most well-known defence lawyers, is being remembered as a brilliant litigator with a passion for justice.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our senior partner, friend and father Eddie Greenspan,” Greenspan’s firm, Greenspan Partners LLP, said in a statement Wednesday. “Eddie died peacefully in his sleep this morning in Phoenix, Arizona.”

Greenspan, 70, was born in Niagara Falls, Ont.

Perhaps the best known criminal defence lawyer in the country, he defended a number of high-profile clients including Conrad Black, Garth Drabinsky and Robert Latimer.

Greenspan also published or edited more than 25 books and was the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees for his work.

He told QMI Agency’s Matt Day in a 2013 interview that he loved being a criminal defence lawyer – even if his mother wasn’t happy about his clients.

“My mother was never too fond of the people I worked for,” he said with a chuckle. “She was like a lot of people. If the police make an arrest, that’s it. There’s nothing else to talk about and the guy is guilty … There’s a whole system of law and the defence lawyer has a very important role to balance against a state that has most of the cards.”

Greenspan said he pursued a career in law because his late father, Joseph, dreamed of being a criminal lawyer. Instead, his father worked at the family’s scrap business in Niagara Falls before his untimely death when his son was 13.

“I wanted to live out his dream because he never got to and I felt somewhat responsible,” he said.
Greenspan was a vocal opponent of the death penalty. In the mid-1980s, when debate about reinstating capital punishment began, he left his practice for a time, touring the country to speak out against the movement.

In the end, MPs voted against the measure.

Tributes poured in after news of Greenspan’s death broke.

Toronto Mayor John Tory issued a statement offering his condolences and praising Greenspan’s work. He called him a “larger-than-life figure in legal circles, our city and country.

“He was a brilliant lawyer who understood how important it is that everyone have a defence, and he was a tireless champion for human rights. On top of that he was a great citizen and a wonderful human being,” Tory said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a brief statement saying, “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Lawyer Robert Rotenberg was a former student of Greenspan and had an office in the same building as his Toronto practice. He called Greenspan a friend and mentor.

“Eddie is probably one of the most extraordinary people I’ve ever met,” Rotenberg said. “He had energy and enthusiasm for everything in life. He was just an incredible intellect. We could talk about history, books, art. He just soaked it all up.”

He said Greenspan loved being a lawyer and every case, no matter who he represented, was important to him.

“He’s known for the Drabinsky trial and the Black trial, but to him, every case was a case,” Rotenberg said. “They were all equal. He treated everyone the same.”

Lawyer Bob Richardson called Greenspan “one of the greatest, if not the greatest criminal lawyer in Canadian history.”

“No one could hold a room like him,” Richardson said. “There was something magnetic about his personality. When he talked it just mesmerized people and you came away feeling great affection for him. But at the same time, he could be a devastating advocate, but you still felt that great affection for him.”

Calvin Barry, a former Crown attorney and a now criminal defence lawyer, faced off against Greenspan in the courtroom many times. He praised Greenspan for his sense of humour and good nature, even in adversarial situations.

“He was a complete gentleman,” Barry said. “He was always fair but he fought for his clients in a most aggressive but dispassionate, ethical manner.”

A funeral will be held Sunday at Beth Torah Synagogue at 47 Glenbrook Ave. in Toronto. Check www.benjaminsparkmemorialchapel.ca for more details closer to the date.

shawn.jeffords@sunmedia.ca

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/12/24/lawyer-eddie-greenspan-dead-at-70

Calvin Barry

Second charge laid against Toronto cop in Sammy Yatim shooting

Const. James Forcillo had already been charged with second-degree murder in the death of the teenager on a streetcar last summer.

Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS FiLE PHOTO

Const. James Forcillo, left, shown with his wife Irina in June, is now facing charges of both second-degree murder and attempted murder.

 

By: Marco Chown Oved Staff Reporter, Published on Wed Jul 30 2014

 

The Toronto officer charged with second-degree murder in the streetcar shooting of Sammy Yatim last summer has been charged again.
 

On Wednesday, the Crown revealed that it had added the charge of attempted murder to the indictment of Const. James Forcillo, leaving him in an apparent contradiction: prosecutors claim he both murdered and attempted to murder the Toronto teen.
 

Yatim was killed after brandishing a small knife on the Dundas streetcar last July. Once passengers evacuated the TTC vehicle, several police officers approached the open front doors and ordered Yatim to drop the knife.
 

Several videos of the event show a single officer — later identified as Forcillo — firing nine times, leaving the boy crumpled on the floor. Yatim was then Tasered and handcuffed before being taken to hospital.

Calvin Barry, who has worked both sides of murder trials — first as a Crown prosecutor and now as a defence lawyer — says he’s never seen a person charged with murder and attempted murder in the same case.
 

“It could have the effect of creating a charge to the jury which would be somewhat complex and, on the face of it, inconsistent,” said Barry, who is not involved in the case.

“In the law, an attempted murderer is just a lucky murderer,” said criminal defence lawyer Nader Hasan, who is not involved in the case. “An attempted murder involves all the same intent, but the victim doesn’t die. Yet in this case, the victim did die.”
 

Characterizing it as a “pretty clear case of second-degree murder,” Hasan said the Crown could be opening up the door for a plea bargain.
 

Because second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no parole for 10 years, while attempted murder means a mandatory five years, “it may provide an opportunity for the officer to plead to something lesser than murder,” said Hasan.
 

Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack disagrees, saying the Crown has indicated it will be fully prosecuting the case.
 

“No plea is happening here,” McCormack said.
 

Another theory is that the Crown is concerned that it won’t be able to prove Yatim died from the bullets.
 

“In order to prove second-degree murder, the Crown has to prove not only that Const. Forcillo had the required intent and carried out this intent by shooting at Sammy Yatim, but also that his shooting caused Sammy Yatim’s death,” wrote Gerald Chan, a criminal defence lawyer who isn’t involved in the case.
 

Yatim’s cause of death might turn out to be heart failure, which could be attributed to the Tasering, said Brian Heller, another uninvolved criminal lawyer.
 

“So he might have died from the Tasering before he died from the shots,” Heller said.
 

In this way, Forcillo’s lawyers may try to argue that he didn’t cause Yatim’s death and the Crown would have to fall back on attempted murder.
 

“Might the sustaining of the shots have diminished his capacity to withstand the force of the Tasering?” Heller asked.
 

After a court appearance Wednesday morning, Forcillo’s lawyer, Lawrence Gridin, said the new charge indicates weakness in the Crown’s case.
 

“The Crown’s changing theory just highlights that this case is by no means clear-cut, and we are looking forward to presenting a strong defence,” Gridin wrote in an email to the Star.
 

McCormack claimed the two charges are contradictory.
 

“We’re scratching our heads; the public is scratching their heads; no one understands it,” he said. “To us, it’s like throwing all sorts of stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks.”
 

After discussing the case with Forcillo’s lawyers, McCormack speculated that the new charge might reflect the officer having felt threatened by Yatim.
 

“It seems Forcillo could have been justified in firing some but not all of the shots,” he said.
 

The second charge comes only days after the one-year anniversary of the shooting. Last weekend, Yatim’s father, Nabil (Bill) said in a statement that his son “did not deserve to die this way.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2014/07/30/toronto_cop_charged_with_attempted_murder_in_sammy_yatim_shooting.html

 

City Nights: 4th Annual ‘Under the Big Top for Autism’ Gala

North America's biggest autism assistance organization, Autism Speaks, hosts its 4th annual gala.

By: Star Staff Published on Thu Nov 20 2014

North America's biggest autism assistance organization, Autism Speaks, hosts its 4th annual gala at the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex. Proceeds go to Autism Speaks Canada. If you’d like our photographers to cover your function, please email mycity@thestar.ca .

Lawyer choice proof Jian Ghomeshi plans to fight accusations 3

By Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun

First posted: Wednesday, November 05, 2014 06:48 PM EST                 

 

    

TORONTO - Jian Ghomeshi has been alleged to have done a lot of things wrong.

But in his own defence, the embattled former CBC radio host has finally done something right.

Hiring criminal lawyer Marie Henein was smart not just because she is arguably the finest defence counsel in the country, but it also sends a message to the public that up until that point was unclear.

He plans to fight.

Ghomeshi does not have to issue such a statement. Retaining Henein is statement enough.
She goes to war for her clients. And she wins.

The veteran lawyer, who I have nicknamed Hand Grenade Henein and Machete Marie for her tenacity, does not just provide a top defence but a shield around the person accused.

“Henein Hutchison LLP is a leading defence firm recognized for providing clients with dedicated and committed advocacy” it states on her firm’s web page.

Not just law or defence but “advocacy.” If ever a guy was in need of this it is Ghomeshi, who was a radio star last week and now one who is falling fast. It’s as if suddenly the man with so many friends in so many places is all alone.

It will cost him but Marie will now go to bat for him.

As proven in the past with such cases as former attorney general Michael Bryant or NHL hockey agent David Frost, she not only advocates but goes for the jugular.

As reported in several other media, in his book about the death of a cyclist in which Bryant was charged, he wrote his lawyer Henein “channelled Hannibal Lecter” to find a way to win his case.
And just because there is heat in the kitchen, she will not drop him like the PR and crisis management firms seem to have done.

Who will be taking notice is the Toronto Police, which is probing three women who have followed Chief Bill Blair’s request for complainants. They know how well Henein knows the law and how good she is at cross-examination.

No mistake can be made and no reasonable doubt will remain unexplored or unexposed.

“Marie Henein is very meticulous and an effective cross examiner,” said defence counsel and former crown attorney Calvin Barry. “She is highly respected by the bar and bench. I often consult with her on cases I have with high-profile clients and her counsel has never steered me wrong.”
But her situation, and that of her client, is unusual.

He has been fired and publicly shamed and accused. But he has not been charged. Until there was a public call for people to lay complaints, none were made.

Still, Ghomeshi brought a lot of it on himself by introducing an argument on his Facebook page pushing forward his problem was his misunderstood involvement in the BDSM scene. Unknowingly Henein, as reported by the Sun’s Sam Pazzano, already spit out that worry when speaking to lawyers last week.

“As criminal lawyers we represent people who have committed heinous acts. Acts of violence. Acts of depravity. Acts of cruelty. Or as Jian Ghomeshi likes to call it, foreplay.”

She got some laughs but what her new client has been shockingly accused of by nine women and one man is not a laughing matter.

While her client is scarce and has not been seen or heard from since, all the public hears is day after day of accounts from victims in the regular and social media — some anonymous and at least two prominent. Henein has her work cut out for her but Barry says she is one lawyer who is always ready for the uphill climb.

“She is always a formidable opponent in the courtroom, “ said Barry. “She is a credit to the profession and a staunch defender of the Charter.”

Translation: While Ghomeshi does not return phone calls or e-mails and his whereabouts are unknown he has huge representation now.

He has been alleged to have made some mistakes but Barry says hiring Henein was not one of them.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/11/05/lawyer-choice-proof-jian-ghomeshi-plans-to-fight-accusations

 

 

Calvin Barry

Calvin Barry Comments on the Mike Duffy Case- CTV

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Calvin Barry Supports Autism Ontario

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Province urged to boost support to Crowns in crisis

Monday, 10 March 2014 08:01 | Written By Yamri Taddese

 

The Ministry of the Attorney General should cover the cost of mental-health treatment for Crown attorneys whose condition was due to work-related stress, according to former Crown counsel.

‘Situations arise where emergency treatment is needed, and if it’s not covered, it should be,’ says Anthony Moustacalis.

As prosecutions get more complex with more voluminous evidence to sift through than ever before, Ontario’s Crown attorneys are under increased stress, according to lawyers who’ve now made the switch from prosecution to defence work. “Situations arise where emergency treatment is needed, and if it’s not covered, it should be,” says Anthony Moustacalis, a former Crown and now president of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association.

The comments follow news that the former president of the Ontario Crown Attorneys’ Association resigned over his controversial payment of rehabilitation costs for an assistant Crown attorney using the organization’s credit card.

According to documents obtained by Law Times, Scott Rogers paid $20,000 to a medical facility for the care of an association member who showed visible signs of alcoholism, including “troubling behaviour in the work environment,” and disappeared for three days.

The assistant Crown attorney — who was “in the danger zone,” according to the documents — had participated in a contested bail hearing in which the accused got out of jail and murdered someone, the documents show.

In his resignation letter, Rogers said he was wrong for not discussing the issue with the board but didn’t apologize for the payment itself.

“Regarding the expenditure of association funds on urgently required medical treatment, I believe I made the correct decision,” he wrote in a letter to members.

“But I improperly deprived the board of the opportunity to make that decision. It was the board’s decision to make, not mine.”

He continued: “Given what we are called upon to do every day, such emergency circumstances are not going away. There is a massive, untenable gap here in our benefits coverage.”

During the October 2013 board meeting, Rogers told his colleagues he didn’t go to them at the time for confidentiality reasons. He also said he believed the ministry should cover the costs because “it was a workplace issue and the government’s moral responsibility.”

The minutes of a board of directors meeting suggests Rogers had considered “what happened” to another Crown attorney who died in the middle of a high-profile inquest.

For Crown attorneys, whose job has always involved dealing with difficult and tragic cases, the work has become tougher with the increased use of scientific and wiretap evidence. “The fact of it is that you see an increase in the amount of evidence. It puts a lot of stress on the Crown system and the defence side as well,” says Moustacalis.

Unless an existing health-care benefits package covers it, Moustacalis agrees the government should take care of costs associated with mental-health treatment for Crowns.

According to the minutes of the meeting the association’s board of directors held on the rehabilitation matter, Rogers suggested the government had previously helped cover a Crown’s treatment. But the ministry declined to say whether it had in fact done so.

“With respect to treatment for mental-health issues, the ministry does not comment on matters pertaining to individual employees,” said ministry spokesman Brendan Crawley.

But Crawley said the ministry takes mental illness seriously. “The ministry is committed to the health and well-being of Crown attorneys and all employees, and provides a range of benefits, programs, and services intended to maintain their health and wellness, including their mental health,” he said.

“Wellness has been a recurring theme and topic of formal discussion at annual continuing professional development conferences for all Crowns across the province,” Crawley added.

According to Moustacalis, the issue of mental illness among Crown attorneys came into focus in the 1980s after a senior prosecutor, Frank Hoffman, committed suicide.

“That incident brought the issue of mental health of employees to the fore,” says Moustacalis.

Other former Crowns agree the work can be stressful. Before he became a criminal defence lawyer, Calvin Barry worked 70 hours a week as a prosecutor. Before he left the Crown attorney’s office in 2004, he also served as the treasurer of the association.

In terms of mental-health resources, “there wasn’t a heck of a lot” at the time, he says. To cope with the stress of prosecuting murders, he used to run.

“You just had to try to cope. There were periods when people were getting burnt out. It’s something that the government probably has to have a look at: what they can do to make sure that there is no burnout and people are able to cope with issues that occur when you’re doing that kind of high-stress, high-tension work,” he says.

Rogers declined to speak to Law Times, as did Scott Childs, the current president of the association.

Childs did say, however, that the $20,000 has now been repaid in full but didn’t indicate by whom. The documents Law Times obtained indicate Rogers paid $10,000.

 

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201403103829/headline-news/province-urged-to-boost-support-to-crowns-in-crisis

 

PMO calls restaurateur who fought suspected thief

CBC News Posted: Apr 05, 2012 3:16 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 05, 2012 10:52 PM ET

Merchants and residents in Toronto's Bloor Street West neighbourhood have voiced their support for restaurant owner Naveen Polapady. (CBC)

 

The prime minister’s office, along with merchants and neighbours, offered support to a Toronto restaurant owner who scuffled with a suspected robber then wound up facing assault charges himself.

CBC News broke the story on Wednesday of Naveen Polapady, owner of Maroli, an Indian restaurant at 630 Bloor St. W., near Euclid Ave.

Last August Polapady scuffled with a man he said had repeatedly tried to break into the building that is both his business and residence.

A security image captured Polapady, armed with a short length of broom handle, struggling with the man.

Police later caught and questioned the man but charged Polapady with assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon. He was also charged with administering a noxious substance, because Polapady threw some restaurant spices at the man.

Police have confirmed with CBC the man Polapady tussled with has a criminal record that includes theft convictions. In 2007 he was convicted of possession of stolen property.

On Thursday, one day after the story aired on CBC and was posted on CBC.ca, Polapady said he’s been flooded by phone and email messages of support.

"I've had overwhelming support from my neighbours, my friends, my customers. They are all calling and offering support," he told CBC News.



The prime minister’s office also called Polapady, offering support.

"It is a great to know that people are supportive of justice," said Polapady.

Many merchants along that stretch of Bloor Street West spoke to CBC News and said they’ve also been targeted by thieves.

Nung Ma owns a nearby jewelry store.

"I think [Polapady] did the right thing," Ma told CBC News. "I had a robbery here too. And we couldn't get nothing because they got away."

Polapady’s case is similar to a 2009 incident in which a shop owner in Toronto’s Chinatown neighbourhood was charged after tying up a man who had robbed his store. A judge later threw out the charges.

The story of that merchant, David Chen, drew headlines around the country and prompted the government to introduce a bill to clarify the rights of people forced to defend themselves or their property against criminals.

The bill, which is currently in second reading, became known as the Lucky Moose bill, named after Chen's shop.

Polapady said the contact from the PMO’s office mentioned the Chen case when they called him on Thursday.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/pmo-calls-restaurateur-who-fought-suspected-thief-1.1256620

Calvin Barry

Calvin">http://vimeo.com/84707425">Calvin Barry Criminal Attorney
from Jason">http://vimeo.com/user22057428">Jason Klein on Vimeo.https://vimeo.com">Vimeo.>

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Former Canadian Olympian Donovan Bailey

Credits: CODIE MCLACHLAN/QMI AGENCY

ALEX CONSIGLIO | QMI AGENCY

TORONTO -- The lawyer for former Canadian Olympic sprinter Donovan Bailey made a brief appearance in court Monday to argue the Crown hasn't provided full disclosure.

 

Bailey, 44, was charged in March with having a blood-alcohol level of more than 80 milligrams while driving a car in Toronto.

 

The former world record holder in the 100 metres was not present in court Monday because he's in Edmonton promoting the Donovan Bailey Invitational, a track race featured in the Edmonton International Athletics Festival.

 

A pre-trial date was to be set Monday, but Harval Bassi, representing Bailey on behalf of Bailey's lawyer Calvin Barry, said the Crown has yet to provide full disclosure.

 

"We have almost provided compete disclosure," Crown attorney Jennifer Armstrong said. "It remains the Crown's position that sufficient disclosure has been made."

 

But Bassi insisted the Crown has a duty to provide the information he's seeking and the matter was held over until July 9.

 

"We're seeking the test history of the breathalyzer that was administered," Bassi said outside court. "That history can be very important.

 

"If the machine itself isn't in functioning order, then that itself can pose a problem for the Crown's case."

 

The test history and readings of the breathalyzer may also determine if an expert is required during the pre-trial hearing.

 

"We will do our best to have that disclosure ready, most of which is not considered relevant by the Crown," Armstrong said.

 

Bailey is not expected to appear for the July 9 disclosure hearing.

 

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/sports/archives/2012/06/20120611-144156.html

 

Calvin Barry on the Dean Blundell Show

Oct 16 ’13 - Dean’s standup set is tomorrow and he talked about his preparation methods. Listener Email focused on Mayor Ford and casual greetings. A woman, her brother and a turkey all played a role during Wha Happened? Gerry Dee returned to the show before his show in Kingston with Dean. Packets and pooping were placed in the Edgefiles. Criminal Lawyer, Calvin Barry stopped by and talked about a few cases he has been involved with. www.edge.ca

Calvin Barry Comments on the Rob Ford Saga

Still more to come in the Rob Ford saga?                                              

By Michele Mandel ,Toronto Sun

 

                    

TORONTO - Punch drunk from revelation after revelation, there is one over arching question that seems to be ricocheting around the city.



Mayor Rob Ford walks past Councillor Doug Ford during council meeting City Hall on Nov. 14, 2013. (Dave Abel/Toronto Sun)

With all the damning information that has emerged, why have no charges been laid against Mayor Rob Ford?

In these last tumultuous days alone, the imploding mayor has made some startling confessions: he’s smoked crack cocaine, he’s purchased illegal drugs during the last two years and he has indeed driven under the influence of alcohol.

And those are just his self-reported admissions of breaking the law. There are still the many other alleged episodes reported by Ford’s ex-staffers in explosive police interviews made public this week.

In these recently uncensored pages, there are at least two disturbing witness accounts of former staffers being in Ford’s vehicle while he was allegedly driving after consuming alcohol.

In the late spring of 2012, Jennifer Dwyer arrived at the mayor’s home to accompany him to an event. According to the court document, she texted another Ford employee to tell him the mayor was “impaired, driving very fast and that she did not know where she was going. Dwyer was scared in the vehicle.”

Former aide Chris Finkel told police he was a passenger in Ford’s Escalade on the way home from one of his high school football practices in the fall of 2012 when the mayor pulled over, grabbed a mickey of vodka out of an LCBO bag and in the space of two minutes, proceeded to chug it down between gulps of Gatorade. Ford then continued on his merry way.

Fickel was alarmed enough to wisely get out of the car. He said he regrets not reporting the incident.
Chief of Staff Earl Provost told investigators Ford was so intoxicated on the night of March 17, 2012 that he insisted on taking him home in a cab. But when the mayor got there, he got into his SUV and nearly struck the taxi as he speeded away.

The police themselves had Ford under surveillance this summer during Project Brazen — which is an interesting moniker in retrospect — and watched him having a boozy lunch before getting back behind the wheel “under the influence of alcohol and or drug but not to the state of impairment.”
How could they know that if they didn’t bother to pull him over?

“If #RobFord won’t resign, how much evidence is needed to press charges given his drinking & driving, drug use & other criminal acts?” asks Robert Zaichowski on Twitter.
How much indeed?

The mayor has even dared them. “If I did something illegal then arrest me,” Ford said in speaking to a radio interviewer 10 days ago. “Obviously, I haven’t.”

Police Chief Bill Blair will only say that his officers conduct their investigations and then place the evidence they gather before the Crown attorney to decide if charges are laid — which seems rather disingenuous considering police arrest people all the time using their own discretion.

But former Crown Calvin Barry explains that while “a lot of it is embarrassing and humiliating” there really isn’t enough here to make a charge stick against the mayor.

The allegations of drunk driving are simply hearsay, accusations made to police long after the fact. There’s no officer who stopped him, smelled alcohol or asked for a breath test. “You need evidence of impairment,” said Barry, now a defence lawyer. “Within hours, all the evidence evaporates.”

What about the admission of buying illegal drugs? Barry says a vague confession isn’t enough: the person would have to be specific about what kind of drug, when and where it was purchased. Police would have to have it tested to prove that it was really a narcotic and not some other substance. “We don’t have any of that here,” he said.

A current Crown attorney agreed, saying he also hasn’t seen enough to warrant a criminal charge. “There’s a very high threshold,” explained the prosecutor, who didn’t want his name used. “There’s no case here that you can prove beyond a reasonable doubt.”

But this Crown also predicts that may change in the near future.

“There’s some kind of play going on,” he said. “There must be something in the works. I can’t imagine this is the end of the show here.”

 http://www.torontosun.com/2013/11/14/still-more-to-come-in-the-rob-ford-saga

Criminal laywer Calvin Barry explains the system and sentencing for drunk driving cases

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/1138415630001

Calvin Barry In The News

Calvin Barry, Toronto Lawyer

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Rick Vaive walks free: Mandel | Inport News

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Calvin Barry Interviews from Calvin Barry on Vimeo.

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Calvin Barry Co-Chair/ Presenter- Under The Big Top For Autism 2013

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