York Regional Police's deputy chief Ryan Hogan reveals evidence from an investigation at the York Regional Police headquarters in Aurora, Ont., on Feb. 5.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
The case against Toronto Police Constable Timothy Barnhardt and other officers facing criminal charges in the Project South police corruption probe will go straight to trial in Superior Court, after the Crown obtained direct indictments for them.
A case with a direct indictment skips a preliminary inquiry, which is typically held to determine whether the Crown has enough evidence to justify a trial. The move was announced during a brief court appearance Tuesday morning.
Constable Barnhardt appeared in an orange jumpsuit by video feed from jail. The 57-year-old – who has twice been denied bail in the case – faces an array of charges as part of Project South, which was announced in February as one of the largest police corruption busts in Canadian history.
The Project South probe, led by York Regional Police, began in June of last year, after the alleged attempted killing of a Toronto South Detention Centre correctional officer at his home. Investigators have alleged that members of organized crime were buying data and addresses from police officers, which were then used to co-ordinate targeted shootings and other crimes.
Recently unsealed court documents in the case reveal that police suspected that the attempted hit may have been ordered by a jailed accomplice of alleged cocaine kingpin Ryan Wedding – with help from that inmate’s former girlfriend, who was a guard at Toronto South Detention Centre. While neither the inmate nor the female correctional officer were charged, both were central targets in the murder-conspiracy investigation, the documents say.
The documents contain unproven allegations that have not been tested in court.
Investigators have said they worked backward after the attempted hit, and determined Constable Barnhardt had used confidential police databases to leak information about the male guard to an alleged organized-crime figure, Brian Da Costa.
Thirty federal cases affected after Toronto police officers charged in Project South probe
In addition to Constable Barnhardt, six other active Toronto Police officers – Sergeant Robert Black; Sergeant Carl Grellette; Constable Saurabjit Bedi; Constable Elias Mouawad; Constable Derek McCormick; Constable John Madeley Jr. – and one recently retired constable, John Madeley Sr., were also charged, on an array of allegations that include bribery and drug trafficking.
Constable Barnhardt is the only officer in custody.
The cases against all but Constable McCormick will now proceed on direct indictment. His lawyer, Gary Clewley, who was not in court Tuesday, declined to comment.
Constable McCormick is scheduled to be back in court July 14.
The rest will transition to the Superior Court of Justice on July 22, followed by a brief return to the Ontario Court of Justice in September, where the cases have so far been handled, to have the original charge sheets stayed or withdrawn.
Lawyers representing those officers either declined to comment or did not immediately respond to a request on Tuesday.
Several of the civilians charged will also be proceeding by direct indictment, Crown lawyer Samuel Walker told the court Tuesday, including alleged drug dealer Mr. Da Costa, who police say worked closely with Constable Barnhardt.
Mr. Da Costa – who was released on bail of $1.5-million in March, only to have it revoked after a bail review in May – also appeared virtually from jail Tuesday, and will similarly next appear in Superior Court on July 22. His lawyer Craig Bottomley declined to comment on the direct indictment Tuesday.
The Crown’s Mr. Walker also stayed the case against one of the civilians charged in Project South, Philip Lecos, after his team “considered the reasonable prospect of conviction and the public interest in this matter,” he told the court on Tuesday.
Mr. Lecos, a local used car dealer and repair shop owner, had been charged with one count of possession of property obtained by crime.
“Mr. Lecos is very pleased that the Crown saw there was no merit in prosecuting him,” his lawyer, John Christie, said in a phone call after court Tuesday.
With a report from Colin Freeze