I would not be a lawyer today but for the fact that Harry Rankin wrote a letter recommending me to the UBC School of Law and hired me as his articling law student way back in 1983.
One of Harry’s insightful reflections was that we have a legal system not a justice system. The story of Umar Zameer, who was recently tried for the first-degree murder of a Toronto police officer, proved an exception to Harry’s observation.
There is one fact that was not in dispute. On July 2, 2021, Umar Zameer’s vehicle ran over and killed Toronto police Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup while Mr. Zameer was attempting to leave an underground parking garage below Toronto City Hall. What was in dispute was why and how this had occurred, and whether Mr. Zameer had done this intentionally or it was just a terrible accident.
The tragedy unfolded as plainclothes Toronto police officers were searching the parking garage for a suspect in a stabbing incident. Mr. Zameer, his wife (who was eight months pregnant), and their two-year-old son were about to leave the parking lot at around midnight after attending Canada Day celebrations. Suddenly two of the plainclothes officers rushed the vehicle and began banging on it when Mr. Zameer locked the doors. The officers did not identify themselves. Mr. Zameer did not fit the description of the suspect.
Thinking that he and his family were being attacked by criminals, Mr. Zameer then attempted to drive forward out of the parking spot, only to have his way blocked by an unmarked van. He reversed out of the spot at an accelerated speed and seeing nothing in his path, drove forward. During the chaos, Det-Const. Northrup was knocked to the ground and was run over.
Unaware of what had occurred, Mr. Zameer continued to drive away. His vehicle was then slammed into by an unmarked police van and the family was surrounded by officers, wearing street clothes, who jumped out of the van with guns drawn. He was arrested and subsequently charged with first-degree murder in the death of Det-Const. Northrup.
Imagine for a moment you are Umar Zameer. Put yourself in his shoes. You are about to go on trial for murdering a policeman. There are several police officers who will give eyewitness evidence against you. If they are believed, you will spend a minimum of 25 years in prison before even being eligible for parole.
Fortunately, Umar Zameer ultimately had justice on his side.
On September 22nd, after over two months in custody, Mr. Zameer was released on bail with a number of conditions after family members posted a $350,000 bond. The decision to release him was denounced publicly by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, by the Chief of the Toronto Police, by then Toronto mayor John Tory, and by the mayor of Brampton – essentially all condemning Mr. Zameer without trial.
Why he received bail was not known at the time, as there was a publication ban on the bail hearing deliberations. This was only lifted after the end of the full trial. It was then revealed that even at the bail hearing, serious questions were being raised about why Mr. Zameer was being charged and prosecuted, given that the findings of the reconstruction expert hired by the Crown completely contradicted the accounts of the police witnesses.
The weakness of the case became obvious during the trial. All three officers gave the same account, that Det-Const. Northrup was standing in front of the vehicle with his arms up when he was hit head on by the vehicle and run over. This account was not supported by security footage from the garage, and was contradicted by two reconstruction experts, one called by the Crown, who testified that the officer had been knocked down by the front left fender of the vehicle as it backed up and turned, and was lying on the ground, not visible, when he was run over.
Before the jury began deliberating, the judge told them that the case against Mr. Zameer did not match the evidence and to watch out for possible collusion among the three police witnesses, observing that all three testimonies were wrong, and wrong in the same way. Documents released after the trial showed that during legal arguments not heard by the jury, the judge had repeatedly raised concerns that evidence being presented in court did not match the prosecution’s varying accounts of what had happened.
Ultimately, the jury unanimously concluded that Umar Zameer was innocent of all charges. And in a rare move, the judge apologized to Mr. Zameer for what he had been through.
Umar Zameer and his family suffered for three years due to this reprehensible prosecution. After the acquittal, his lawyer, Nader Hassan, explained the full ordeal in this CBC interview with Matt Galloway.
During my almost 40 years of legal practice, there have been many occasions when Harry’s observation has been correct. Fortunately for Umar Zameer, Harry was not right all the time. This time, the justice system won.
Daily atmospheric CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Latest daily total (May 1, 2024): 426.34ppm
One year ago (May 1, 2023): 424.45ppm
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