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The lawyer representing Umar Zameer, a man cleared in the death of a Toronto police officer two years ago, says he has “serious misgivings” about an upcoming report into the conduct of several officers involved in the case.
Nader Hasan says in a statement that neither he nor his client will have seen the report prepared by Ontario Provincial Police before it is made public, nor has anyone from the OPP contacted them about the investigation.
Zameer was charged with first-degree murder in the death 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.
In her final instructions to the jury, Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy told them to consider the possibility that three officers who served as the prosecution’s key witnesses had colluded.
Zameer found not guilty in 2024
All three had the same incorrect memory that Northrup was standing in a laneway with his arms outstretched when he was struck, she said.
Zameer was found not guilty in April 2024, and Molloy apologized to him for what he had been through.
The next day, Toronto police announced they had asked OPP to conduct an independent review in light of the judge’s “adverse comments.”
WATCH | Lawyer looks back at emotional trial:
Umar Zameer’s lawyer: ‘We knew the truth’
On Sunday, jurors found Umar Zameer not guilty of all criminal charges, including first-degree murder, in the death of Toronto police officer Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup nearly three years ago. Metro Morning host David Common spoke with Zameer’s lawyer Nader Hasan about the verdict, and how officials handled the case.
Police said last week they had received the report and would review it and brief “affected individuals” about the findings before releasing it.
Toronto police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer said Monday the report will be released this week, with more details on the timing expected in the coming days.
“The OPP has extensive experience conducting complex investigations across Ontario and was well positioned to carry out a thorough and impartial review,” she said in an email.
“Given the public interest in this matter, the report will be released in full.”
OPP did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Lawyer questions OPP as investigators
In his statement, Hasan said turning to provincial police for the investigation was “a curious choice.”
“There are various ways that (Toronto police) could have triggered a truly independent public review of the egregious police misconduct at issue here, yet they chose to have their misconduct reviewed by another police agency,” he said, noting the history of police forces investigating one another is “not good.”
“We await the release of this report with serious misgivings,” he said. “Although I would love to be proven wrong, this process does not inspire confidence that this review has been undertaken in good faith.”
WATCH | Zameer speaks after verdict:
‘I never meant any of this to happen,’ Umar Zameer says after not-guilty verdict in Toronto police officer’s death
Umar Zameer expressed relief and thanked his lawyers outside a Toronto courthouse after jurors found him not guilty of all criminal charges, including first-degree murder, in the 2021 death of Toronto police officer Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup. ‘I think today I see that Canada didn’t let injustice to happen, so I thank Canada,’ he said.
Zameer and his legal team were never informed of the investigation’s mandate, its terms of reference, its process — or its findings, Hasan said. “We certainly have never been asked if we had anything to contribute to this process,” he said.
Zameer, meanwhile, said he and his wife “simply wanted to move on from this case and live, work, and raise our children in peace.”
“That said, I had hoped that the Toronto Police Service would have learned from the mistakes it made in my case,” he said in the statement issued by his lawyer.