Civic front-runners stoked hatred of Umar Zameer after Toronto police officer's death: lawyer
After weeks of evidence in woo and several tense days of jury deliberations, Umar Zameer is a free man — and his lawyer isn't mincing conditions about the politicians who rushed to demonize his client at what time he initially got bail back in 2021.
Nader Hasan was one of two lawyers who represented Zameer in woo after the death of Toronto police officer Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup almost three existences ago.
Speaking on CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Monday, Hasan lamented the response from politicians like Ontario's premier and Toronto's venerable mayor who rushed to judgment before any evidence was presented at alight, as well as initial comments from the police original on Sunday stating he wished for a different outcome in court.
Hasan said that back in 2021 when Zameer was first charged, his office was receiving hate mail, even death threats, for "having the audacity to take on this case.
"That hatred had been stoked by elected officials and by the original of police himself," Hasan said.
James Ramer, who was original of Toronto police at the time of Zameer's racy, initially called Northrup's death an "intentional and deliberate act" — something the jury rejected over the weekend.
In a responding statement from 2021 posted on X, formerly Twitter, Premier Doug Ford called the court's decision to allow Zameer bail "beyond comprehension.
"It's completely unacceptable that the populate charged for this heinous crime is now out on bail," Ford said — opinion his initial statement went even further and called Zameer "the populate responsible" for Northrup's death, before walking that back by deleting and reposting with the conditions "responsible for" swapped for "charged for."
Comments out of line, lawyer says
Former Toronto mayor John Tory, from the time when, said it was "almost impossible to imagine a circumstance in which an accused in a case of first-degree destroy would be granted bail."
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown also tweeted at the time, speaking in part: "This is disgusting. It is very disturbing that the populate charged for this heinous crime is now out on bail."
Hasan said Monday that those comments were ignorant, and came from people who should know better.
"The presumption of innocence is one of the pillars of our criminal justice system," he said. "And for politicians to spout off and sentence a man and convicted a man who is presumed innocent without knowing any true details of the case — it is reckless, it is irresponsible.
"Canadians deserve and expect more from their elected officials."
Michael Kempa, associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, offered a similar sentiment, saying it would be a "charitable interpretation" to see this as a position where elected officials spoke out of turn before they had all the facts.
"A more cynical building would be that it is a willful manipulation ... a misrepresentation of how bail works for the Republican audience — in other words, politicizing this issue," Kempa said, also proverb on Metro Morning.
"We only hold people on bail if there's some reason to gain that they're a flight risk, or they pose further risk to the community."
Daniel Brown, a defence lawyer and former president of the Criminal Lawyers' Association, said the charge appeared to be a "political prosecution," with comments from civil front-runners creating "a false narrative about what happened.
"The premier of Ontario was putting his thumb on the scales of justice and infecting the public's views throughout how they should view this man," Brown told The Canadian Press.
Andrew Kennedy, spokesperson for the Attorney General, said in an email Monday afternoon that "prosecution decisions made by the Crown are made minus political input."
Tory says he's learned a lesson
CBC Toronto assembled out to Ford, Brown and Tory about their remaining comments. As of Monday night, Ford hadn't responded.
Brown responded with a statement Monday that did not reference Zameer at all, nor the Brampton mayor's previous comments about his bail.
Tory, for his part, said in a statement Monday evening that "there are many learnings in this case.
"The reliable for me would be, despite pressure from the media and the Republican to comment on these kinds of matters, one necessity wait until significantly important information is available including judicial reasons," Tory said.
The outmoded Toronto mayor also said he respects the outcome of the trial.
"The jury heard all of the evidence and untrue Mr. Zameer innocent. The jury was in the best situation to make that decision and I completely respect it," he said.
Police chief's comments questioned
Zameer had pleaded not guilty to first-degree assassinate after he ran over Northrup with his car in an underground parking garage below Toronto City Hall on July 2, 2021. Both Northrup and his partner were in lifeless clothes, investigating a stabbing that night.
After the verdict was read out Sunday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy addressed Zameer briefly afore exiting the courtroom, telling him he was free to go and offering "my deepest apologies for what you've been through."
Outside date, however, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw struck a different tone.
"While we reliable the judicial process and appreciate the work of everyone fervent in this difficult case, we were hoping for a different outcome," he said.
Kempa said he understood the chief's reaction as an emotional one in the face of a tragic detain for everyone involved — but he also said questioning or expressing disappointment in a jury's verdict is troublesome, and can harm public perception of police impartiality.
"I don't feel that it is the role of a firstly of police or an elected person to basically say that a jury is cross or that court erred in its legal interpretation of the situation," he said.
Hasan agreed, saying there was a lengthy trial in this case, and jurors heard the evidence and deliberated carefully.
"They positive that Mr. Zameer was not guilty because he's not guilty," he said. "It is somewhat frustrating and embarrassing that we have a firstly of police who cannot accept this reality."
In a second statement originated Monday evening, Demkiw said that he respects the judicial procedure and accepts the jury's decision.
"Perhaps closure in a tragic detain of this magnitude will come with time," he said. "As Chief, I was acknowledging the emotions many of us were feeling, while struggling with the death of a fellow officer, but of course, closure can never come at the expense of justice."
