2010-08-11
Jennifer Yang Staff Reporter
Feeling anxious over police charges you wish would just disappear? Better cross your fingers for a mix-up in the mailroom.
That’s what got Dave Vasey off the hook, it would seem. On June 24, the 31-year-old was exploring the G20 security perimeter when he was arrested and charged under the controversial Public Works Protection Act, a 1939 law that was amended for the international summit.
But when Vasey attended his scheduled court date July 28, he was told they had no record of his charge. According to the attorney general’s office, it was never filed with the courts.
At the time, Toronto police said they were looking into the missing charge but believed an administrative error was likely to blame.
Police have now concluded that paperwork for Vasey’s charge was “delayed in the mail” and failed to arrive at the provincial prosecutor’s office until July 29 — one day after Vasey’s scheduled court appearance.
Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said it is unclear what might have caused the delay.
“What happened in the time it left us to the time it arrived in the prosecutor’s office is a detail we may never know,” she said.
Gray said a police officer mailed Vasey’s charge to the prosecutor’s office using an interagency mailing service, which is normal procedure. She said the charge was mailed out about a week before Vasey’s court date — which is a month after his June arrest.
It is rare for charges to get lost in the mail but it does occur on occasion, Gray said. “This is not the first time it’s happened.”
Vasey was the only person charged for approaching the G20 security perimeter and refusing to comply with a peace officer under the PWPA.
On June 2, the PWPA was quietly amended by provincial cabinet to allow G20 police to search and demand identification from anyone suspected of trying to breach the security fence. Those who refused were subject to arrest.
But news of the regulation only came to light June 25, three days before the regulation was to be revoked. The so-called “secret law” prompted outcry from civil liberties watchdogs and drew further controversy when it was revealed police and government failed to properly clarify a misunderstanding over the regulation’s supposed five-metre rule.
Ontario Ombudsman André Marin is now investigating the way the government passed and implemented the PWPA regulation.
According to Vasey’s lawyer, police still have time to recharge him.
But they say they won’t. “We don’t believe it’s in the public’s interest to move forward with this case at this time,” Gray said.
When asked what he thought about the explanation behind his lost charge, Vasey expressed skepticism.
“I think it’s pretty apparent that they just didn’t want this to see the light of day,” said Vasey, who had planned to challenge his charge on constitutional grounds. “We know they’re scared to challenge us now in the open court system because they know that they will lose this public battle.”