Umar Zameer’s lawyer expresses ‘serious misgivings’ about OPP investigation into Toronto police officers

Umar Zameer thanks defence lawyer Nader Hasan while speaking to members of the media outside the courthouse following his not guilty verdict, in Toronto, Sunday, April 21, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

The legal counsel for Umar Zameer, who was acquitted of first-degree murder in the 2021 death of Toronto police Det. Const. Jeffrey Northrup, is expressing concerns about the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) investigation into the conduct of officers during the high-profile trial.

In a statement on Sunday, Nader Hasan said he and his client were never contacted by the OPP about their investigation.

“We have never been informed of this investigation’s mandate; its terms of reference; its process; nor its findings. We certainly have never been asked if we had anything to contribute to this process,” Hasan said.

“We await the release of this report with serious misgivings. The history of police forces reviewing one another’s conduct is not good. Although I would love to be proven wrong, this process does not inspire confidence that this review has been undertaken in good faith.”

The Toronto Police Service (TPS) revealed last week that the OPP handed them the final report of the investigation into the three officers who testified during the 2024 trial of Zameer.

The independent investigation was ordered by Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw following the five-week trial, during which Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy raised concerns about the versions of events from three of the officers who testified.

Molloy told jurors that the officers’ testimonies, which were at the centre of the case against Zameer, didn’t match the video and physical evidence and advised them to watch out for possible collusion.

A jury found Zameer not guilty in the death of Northrup, who was hit by a vehicle in the underground public parking lot at Nathan Phillips Square in July 2021.

OPP have told CTV News their mandate was to “thoroughly investigate to determine whether three involved Toronto Police officers committed any criminal offences.”

TPS announced last that it would publicly release the findings of the OPP once it had reviewed them and notified affected individuals.

“When the report is released publicly, it will be the first time that Mr. Zameer or his lawyers will get a chance to read the report or learn anything about this secretive review process that has apparently taken place over the past two years,” Hasan said on Sunday.

He called Demkiw’s choice to tap the OPP to conduct the investigation a “curious choice.

“There are various ways that TPS could have triggered a truly independent public review of the egregious police misconduct at issue here, yet they chose to have their misconduct reviewed by another police agency,” Hasan said.

TPS responded to Hasan’s statement, saying that the OPP “has extensive experience conducting complex investigations across Ontario and was well positioned to carry out a thorough and impartial review.”

TPS reiterated that the findings of the investigation will be released this week in full.

As for Zameer, he said in a separate statement that he and his wife want to move on from the case and live, work and raise their children in peace.

“That said, I had hoped that the Toronto Police Service would have learned from the mistakes it made in my case,” Zameer said.

With files from Jon Woodward and The Canadian Press