No apology from chief on acquittal comments
Group seeks answers from Toronto police
Toronto's police chief has yet to apologize for the doubt he cast on a man's innocence when commenting on his acquittal, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said Thursday as it asked the civilian body overseeing the force whether it thinks the chief 's comments were appropriate.
The CCLA said it has also asked the Toronto Police Service Board what steps it will take to ensure Chief Myron Demkiw and other police force members don't “publicly malign bail decisions or criminal verdicts in the future.”
The association's questions to the board came after Demkiw said on Sunday that police “were hoping for a different outcome” after a jury acquitted Umar Zameer in the death of an officer.
On Tuesday, the chief then said he wanted to be “crystal clear” he accepts and supports the jury's verdict, but the CCLA said he had not “specifically repudiated or apologized” for his initial comment.
“Chief Demkiw's statement conveyed to the public that despite Mr. Zameer's acquittal, he should have been found guilty,” CCLA wrote in its letter.
“His statement cast doubt on Mr. Zameer's innocence, usurped the judicial system's responsibility to determine guilt, and undermined public confidence in the administration of justice.”
Asked about the letter, Toronto Police Service spokeswoman Stephanie Sayer said the chief “has stated numerous times that he supports the justice system and accepts the decision of the jury.”
“He again acknowledged that we all seek closure to tragic events in different ways, but that closure does not come at the expense of justice. We have nothing further to add on this,” she said.
A jury found Zameer not guilty of first-degree murder on Sunday in the death of Det. Const. Jeffrey Northrup, who was run over in Toronto City Hall's underground parking garage nearly three years ago.
Zameer told the trial he didn't know Northrup and his partner — who were in plain clothes — were police officers and Zameer felt he, his pregnant wife, and their young son were in danger when two strangers ran up to his car.
Legal observers have questioned the decision to charge and prosecute Zameer for murder when the evidence did not support it.