No misconduct charges for 'aggressive and abusive' Peel police interview tactics
The province’s police watchdog has found insufficient evidence of misconduct by the Peel Regional Police detectives who employed what an Ontario Superior court judge called “aggressive and abusive” tactics and “leading” questioning to obtain evidence in a murder case.
The Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) will not charge any of the Peel detectives involved in the case of Eric Morgan, the Brampton man acquitted of second-degree murder in the death of Mervyn Spence after two murder trials and more than three years in jail while his case was before the court.
Superior Court Justice Fletcher Dawson, who presided over Morgan’s retrial in November 2013, highlighted what he viewed as problematic police actions used during interviews with key witnesses, including “improper threats and overly aggressive and abusive tactics.”
In one case, Dawson said one witness was “psychologically broken down” after an eight-hour “relentless onslaught” by Peel police. Under repeated threat of being charged with crime if he did not change his account, the witness recanted testimony that supported Morgan’s innocence, a story change Dawson called “the direct result of threatening and oppressive police conduct.”
In another interview, a detective used “leading and suggestive” tactics that demonstrated he “had an agenda,” Dawson said.
http://m.mississauga.com/news-story...ive-and-abusive-peel-police-interview-tactics
The province’s police watchdog has found insufficient evidence of misconduct by the Peel Regional Police detectives who employed what an Ontario Superior court judge called “aggressive and abusive” tactics and “leading” questioning to obtain evidence in a murder case.
The Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) will not charge any of the Peel detectives involved in the case of Eric Morgan, the Brampton man acquitted of second-degree murder in the death of Mervyn Spence after two murder trials and more than three years in jail while his case was before the court.
Superior Court Justice Fletcher Dawson, who presided over Morgan’s retrial in November 2013, highlighted what he viewed as problematic police actions used during interviews with key witnesses, including “improper threats and overly aggressive and abusive tactics.”
In one case, Dawson said one witness was “psychologically broken down” after an eight-hour “relentless onslaught” by Peel police. Under repeated threat of being charged with crime if he did not change his account, the witness recanted testimony that supported Morgan’s innocence, a story change Dawson called “the direct result of threatening and oppressive police conduct.”
In another interview, a detective used “leading and suggestive” tactics that demonstrated he “had an agenda,” Dawson said.
http://m.mississauga.com/news-story...ive-and-abusive-peel-police-interview-tactics
