Judge acquits drug suspect

‘Too many unanswered questions’ in officer’s account of raid

A judge has acquitted a man he believes was likely holding thousands of dollars worth of crystal meth largely because of “troubling” inconsistencies in the testimony of the lead officer in the case.

“I am left with too many unanswered questions,” Ontario Superior Court Justice Glenn Hainey said Thursday before acquitting Rami Wein, 27, of possession of 60 grams of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking.

The drugs had a street value of between $6,000 and $12,000.

Hainey said he is troubled by inconsistencies between the testimony of the “road boss,” Det.-Const. Jason Spencer, and other evidence in the trial.

Spencer’s crew of six raided an apartment on Bathurst St. near Wilson Ave. on March 14, 2010, acting on a tip.

As they lined up outside the door, Spencer testified he heard a panicked man’s voice inside say “open the door,” accompanied by banging. Spencer said he was the second officer into the apartment, raided without a search warrant on the grounds the premises had to be secured before a warrant is obtained. Spencer said that he saw Wein in a bedroom with his right arm out a window and a guilty look on his face of a “deer in the headlights.” Spencer testified he later retrieved a baggie with the 60 grams on the roof. The judge said he is troubled by Spencer’s evidence that Wein closed the window after returning his arm inside. Another officer testified the window was open. Hainey also said he found “implausible” Spencer’s evidence about squeezing through that 25centimetre-wide window to retrieve the drugs. At first, Spencer testified he kept his Kevlar vest, handcuffs, baton and other bulky equipment on all the time, then changed his testimony to say he took it off to climb through the window. Crown prosecutor Hafeez Amarshi argued all the evidence points to Wein having knowledge and control of the meth. The judge agreed Wein’s actions were “highly suspicious,” but acquitted him because of concerns about Spencer’s testimony. After the ruling, defence lawyer Daniel Rechtshaffen said the judge “understood and applied the law appropriately,” and gave a very fair judgment. “It’s clear from the ruling that the judge was not swayed by the drug squad officers’ testimony, particularly Spencer, who contradicted himself under oath.”

Last year, Spencer was found by provincial court Justice Timothy Lipson to have given “misleading testimony” in another drug case — R. v Wisdom — in which he was also serving as the crew’s road boss. Such behaviour by officers “threatens the integrity of our criminal justice system,” Rechtshaffen said.