A police investigation into the conduct of three Toronto officers in the high-profile arrest of Umar Zameer has concluded that concerns from a judge that they potentially colluded were “not supported by evidence.”
Zameer was cleared after the death of a Toronto police officer two years ago and, in her final instructions to the jury, a judge said they should consider the possibility the three officers who gave evidence had colluded.
Police had charged Zameer with the first-degree murder of Det. Const. Jeffrey Northrup, a plainclothes officer, who was fatally run over by a vehicle in an underground parking garage at Toronto City Hall in July 2021.
The trial focused on whether Zameer meant to run over Northrup, or even realized it had happened, and whether he knew the constable and his partner were police officers. Zameer testified he thought his family was being ambushed by criminals when two strangers ran over and started banging on his car.
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After the judge made her comments to the jury and Zameer was cleared, Toronto police asked officers with the Ontario Provincial Police to investigate if there was evidence that those involved had conspired.
The report found in favour of the three officers: Lisa Forbes, Antonio Correa and Scharnil Pais.
“The OPP has found no reasonable grounds to believe that Detective Constables Forbes, Pais or Correa lied or colluded to lie,” part of the report concluded.
“Assertions to the contrary are unsupported by physical evidence, witness testimony or investigative findings. There is no evidence to support the belief that any of these officers have committed the criminal offences of obstruction of justice or perjury.”
The head of Toronto’s police union welcomed the results of the report.
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“Today our focus is on the vindication of officers Scharnil Pais, Antonio Correa and Lisa Forbes,” Toronto Police Association president Clayton Campbell said.
“While they’ve been vindicated of any wrongdoing, this is not a reason to celebrate. On July 2, 2021, Jeff was killed in the line of duty. His death is still deeply felt by his wife Margaret, his three children, his colleagues and friends.”
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In a statement read out on behalf of the three officers, they thanked the investigation team and said they remained dedicated to remembering Northrup, their colleague.
Police Chief Myron Demkiw echoed the words.
“Their reputations were questioned publicly and repeatedly, their credibility was challenged and in the court of public opinion, some had convicted them, he said at a news conference Tuedsay.
“That is an extraordinarily heavy burden for anyone to carry.”
Before the report was released, Zameer’s lawyer expressed “serious misgivings” about it, saying neither he nor his client had been consulted.
He raised concerns provincial police had been asked to take on the investigation, rather than an independent agency.
“We await the release of this report with serious misgivings,” lawyer Nader Hasan said. “Although I would love to be proven wrong, this process does not inspire confidence that this review has been undertaken in good faith.”
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The fact that Zameer ran over Northrup and caused his death was not disputed at trial, with the case instead turning on whether Zameer meant to hit Northrup and whether he knew that the people who approached his car were police officers.
The two plainclothes officers came up to Zameer’s car after midnight while investigating a stabbing that he was not involved in. Zameer’s eight-months pregnant wife and their toddler were also present at the time.
Forbes, then a detective constable, told the court that she and her partner walked over while Zameer was still outside the car. She testified that she identified herself as a police officer multiple times and started yelling and banging on the car after it moved forward.
Pais and Correa were in an unmarked police van with tinted windows and blocked the car’s path, court heard.
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Zameer reversed, angled the car back and accelerated down the laneway, running over Northrup on the way, court heard. The unmarked van rammed into his car at the exit gate, and Zameer was arrested, trial heard.
While Zameer was handcuffed on the ground, Pais punched him in the face to get him to move, court heard.
Zameer gave a very different account of the incident, saying two strangers rushed over when he was already in the car with his wife and son. The pair started yelling and banging on the car, and Zameer said he feared he and his family were being attacked by criminals.
He drove forward, then grew more alarmed when the van blocked him, he said. He reversed quickly then moved forward down the laneway, looking in each direction, he said. Zameer said he never saw anything or anyone in the way.
Both Zameer and his wife told the court they thought they had gone over a speedbump and only realized what had happened after he was arrested.
Two crash reconstruction experts – including one called by the Crown – said they concluded Northrup fell after the car made glancing contact with him while reversing, and was on the ground when he was run over.
During her closing instructions to the jury, Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy asked them to consider the fact that all three officers who testified appeared to have the same incorrect memory of events.
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“When three versions of an event are wrong, and wrong in the same way, you
must also consider whether there has been collusion between those witnesses,” she said.
The specific detail all three shared a memory of was Northrup standing in front of the vehicle with his arms spread wide when he was hit by the car.
The judge also raised questions about why two of the officers completed their notes more than a month after the incident had taken place.
Zameer’s lawyers, meanwhile, alleged the officers repeatedly lied on the stand and colluded with each other.
The officers maintained they had not discussed their evidence with anyone.
Court heard that Pais, Correa and several other officers wrote their notes in the same room more than a month after the incident, in what Molloy labelled a “note-taking party.”
The union president called on the judge to apologize following the completion of the investigation.
“At the very least, they deserve an apology,” Campbell said. “Judges should also take accountability, they’re not beyond reproach.”
— with files from The Canadian Press