And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 08:57:48 -0400
From: Lynne Moss-Sharman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: OPP raid offices of SIU
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October 14, 1999 OPP raids office of police watchdog in
shooting probe
Romagnuolo case puts authorities at loggerheads
By Nick Pron
Toronto Star Staff Reporter
In a dramatic development in the fatal police shooting of Tony
Romagnuolo, the Ontario Provincial Police have raided the office of the
province's police watchdog. Two OPP detectives, armed with a
court-authorized search warrant, surprised officials with the special
investigations unit when they came hunting yesterday for evidence connected
to the incident last Christmas at Sunderland.
The unusual move by the OPP had the effect of pitting one
provincial law authority against another. ``Yes, they did come in, and we
co-operated fully,'' SIU spokesperson Gail Scala said yesterday. The OPP
was called in 10 months ago by the police chiefs of the York and Durham
regional forces to investigate the wounding
of York Region Constable Randy Martin. During a struggle outside
Romagnuolo's home, Martin was grazed in the nose by a bullet.
Martin himself faces a second-degree murder charge, which was
laid by the SIU following the Dec. 28, 1998, fatal police shooting
of Romagnuolo, 44, of Sunderland. But while the SIU wrapped up its
investigation by laying charges against Martin and two other officers,
detectives with the OPP have not finished their probe into the incident. An
OPP spokesperson would only say yesterday that their case is still ongoing.
The spokesperson wouldn't comment when asked if any charges were pending in
the incident. Although it's not known what evidence the OPP detectives were
looking for, it's believed the SIU files kept at the agency's office would
include all interviews with the Romagnuolo family, and those conducted with
the lone witness officer in the shooting, Durham Constable Nancy George.
The files would also contain the forensic evidence, including
the autopsy conducted on Romagnuolo, which would show where he was shot
that night. The SIU was set up in 1990 to investigate all deaths or serious
injuries involving police. It has come under constant criticism from the
police, including the most recent attack by the Ontario Association of
Chiefs of Police, which wants the province to abolish the SIU or make
dramatic changes to the agency.
With files from John Duncanson
"Let Us Consider The Human Brain As
A Very Complex Photographic Plate"
1957 G.H. Estabrooks
www.angelfire.com/mn/mcap/bc.html
FOR K A R E N #01182
who died fighting 4/23/99
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.aches-mc.org
807-622-5407
