ONTARIO COURT OF APPEAL- WELL DONE

Today's Waterloo Region Record carried this following story today titled "Drug conviction quashed because officers lied". The crime was a marijuana related one albeit definitely considerably more than a teenager caught smoking a joint. A 43 year old woman was convicted of possession for the purpose of trafficking. However the police officers involved violated the woman's rights three times including forcing her car to stop with an unmarked police car and then while wearing a balaclava over his face the officer ordered her at gunpoint out of her car. There was also a five hour delay in allowing her to call her lawyer. Finally both police officers lied in court, under oath, claiming that it was a routine stop and no firearms were involved.

The Appeal Court stated "This is one of those cases in which the court's need to disaasociate itself from police's conduct is greater than society's interest in prosecuting (the accused).". The conviction was quashed because of both Charter breaches as well as the officers lying under oath. There was no word in the story as to the liklihood of perjury charges against the officers.