Umar Zameer found not guilty of murder in Toronto police officer’s death

Jurors have discovered Umar Zameer not responsible of all felony expenses, together with first-degree homicide, within the demise of Toronto police officer Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup practically three years in the past. 

Zameer and his relations burst into tears when the decision was learn out on the fourth day of jury deliberations. 

Zameer had pleaded not responsible to first-degree homicide, after he ran over Northrup together with his automotive in an underground parking storage beneath Toronto Metropolis Corridor on July 2, 2021. Each Northrup and his companion have been in plain garments, investigating a stabbing that evening. 

The decision means the Crown didn’t show past an affordable doubt that Zameer supposed to kill Northrup, as is required for each a first-degree and lesser second-degree homicide conviction.

“I by no means meant any of this to occur,” Zameer mentioned standing outdoors the courthouse. “I’m sorry for what has occurred.”

Zameer mentioned he nervous his household had made the fallacious determination once they got here to Canada, however now he needed to thank the nation for guaranteeing he acquired justice in his case.

His defence lawyer, Nader Hasan, mentioned Sunday was not a day for celebration. 

“However it’s a day for aid, as a result of the system labored because it ought to,” he mentioned.

Hasan added that it is necessary to acknowledge the courtroom has determined Zameer shouldn’t be a felony. 

“This was an unlucky, horrible scenario that occurred,” he mentioned. “And consequently, an unlucky and tragic demise ensued, however it was not intentional. It was not a felony act. It was an accident.”

Reacting to the decision outdoors the courthouse, Northrup’s spouse, Margaret Northrup, mentioned she was “very disenchanted” in immediately’s end result.

“From day one, all I’ve needed was accountability,” she mentioned.

WATCH | Police chief, widow of Toronto officer specific disappointment in Zameer verdict:

Police chief, widow of Toronto officer specific disappointment in Zameer verdict

Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw and the widow of Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup reacted outdoors the courthouse after Umar Zameer was discovered not responsible of homicide within the 2021 demise of the police officer. ‘From day one, all I’ve needed was accountability,’ Margaret Northrup mentioned.

In an announcement issued after the decision, Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw  mentioned the trial has been a troublesome time for police. 

“Whereas we respect the judicial course of and admire the work of the 12 residents who sat on a really troublesome case, I share the emotions of our members who have been hoping for a distinct end result,” Demkiw mentioned.

Jon Reid, president of the Toronto Police Affiliation, mentioned the affiliation will proceed to assist Northrup’s household and the officers who “bravely” took the stand on this case.

Hasan mentioned the case ought to be a teachable second for police and Canadians. 

“About how we would like police to behave, how they need to act, particularly once they’re in plain garments,” he mentioned. “I believe that some soul looking must be completed on the a part of many people who have been concerned on this specific investigation.”

After the decision was learn, the decide apologized to Zameer for all the things he has been by over the last three years.

“You are actually free,” Ontario Superior Courtroom Justice Anne Molloy mentioned.

The jury additionally discovered Zameer not responsible of manslaughter attributable to harmful driving. For a manslaughter conviction, an individual have to be discovered responsible of committing an illegal act that precipitated demise, with out having the intent to kill. 

Jury deliberations started Thursday night, after a five-week trial throughout which Zameer testified that he did not know Northrup and his companion have been police, as a substitute pondering his household was being ambushed by criminals. 

Officers’ testimony contradicted by consultants throughout trial

The 2 officers approached his automotive within the parking storage round midnight, the place Zameer was together with his spouse, who was eight months’ pregnant, and their two-year-old son. The younger household was getting ready to return to their Vaughan, Ont., dwelling after celebrating Canada Day downtown. 

Zameer mentioned neither Northrup nor his companion, Sgt. Lisa Forbes, recognized themselves as police that evening. He mentioned the pair started banging on his automotive after he locked the doorways. 

When Zameer tried to drive ahead out of the parking area, he was blocked by an unmarked police van. He then reversed out of the spot at an accelerated pace and drove ahead to exit the parking storage. 

WATCH | What the jury heard all through the trial:

The case towards Umar Zameer, accused in Toronto cop’s demise

Umar Zameer has pleaded not responsible to first-degree homicide within the demise of Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup, who died after he was hit by a automotive in an underground parking storage in Toronto on July 2, 2021. CBC’s Greg Ross breaks down the proof offered in courtroom.

Throughout the trial, two crash reconstructionist consultants referred to as by the defence and the Crown agreed Northrup was knocked down when Zameer reversed out of the parking spot. 

The 31-year veteran of the Toronto Police Service was already on the bottom within the laneway of the automotive when he was run over, the consultants mentioned. 

Nonetheless, three cops testified that Northrup was standing within the laneway together with his fingers up when he was run over.

Decide questioned Crown’s ‘morphing’ principle 

A number of occasions in the course of the trial, the presiding decide questioned the Crown’s altering principle about what occurred on July 2, 2021, at one level saying she did not see how the jury may convict Zameer of even the lesser second-degree homicide cost. 

Throughout authorized arguments not heard by the jury, Ontario Superior Courtroom Justice Anne Molloy repeatedly raised issues in regards to the prosecution’s altering narrative about the place and the way Northrup was struck. 

Prosecutors Michael Cantlon and Karen Simone raised new theories in spite of everything their proof had been offered to the jury, together with some that weren’t introduced up throughout their very own crash reconstructionist knowledgeable’s testimony. 

One such principle — that Northrup was “clearly seen” to Zameer when he was hit no matter his place, which itself is in dispute — was deserted solely days earlier than legal professionals made their ultimate arguments to the jury, after Molloy mentioned she was struggling to grasp it.

The Crown’s place “retains morphing,” the decide mentioned Monday throughout authorized arguments over her directions to the jury.

Arguments and proof mentioned within the absence of the jury can’t be revealed till the jury is sequestered for deliberations. 

Earlier within the trial, after the Crown completed presenting its proof and whereas the jury was absent, Molloy famous the discrepancy between the testimony of cops who mentioned Northrup was standing up when he was run over, and that of the prosecution’s knowledgeable. 

Molloy identified one other knowledgeable was set to present the same opinion, that Northrup had already been knocked to the bottom by Zameer’s automotive when he was run over, as a part of the defence’s case. 

The decide additionally referred to safety footage, proven to jurors, by which an unidentified object believed to be Northrup seems on the bottom in entrance of the automotive as it’s driving ahead.

“Let’s simply be blunt — I do not see how they will get to second-degree homicide on this proof due to the knowledgeable report and video,” Molloy mentioned.