Jury deliberations have begun in the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer, with the judge providing guidance, including that Crown prosecutors have no evidence that “fully supports” their case.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy told jurors Thursday that the police officers’ testimony that is the basis of the case against Umar Zameer does not match the physical evidence, and she advised them to be on the lookout for a possible collusion that could misrepresent how Det-Const . Jeffrey Northrup died.
“There is no evidence to fully support the Crown’s theory,” Judge Molloy said. “It is clear from the video that Officer Northrup was not standing in the alley when he was knocked to the ground and run over, even though all three police witnesses say he was.”
“When three versions of the event are wrong, and wrong in the same way, we must also consider whether there has been collusion between those witnesses. All agents denied colluding,” he said.
Upon receiving a transcript of the judge’s statements, criminal defense attorney Joseph Neuberger, who is not involved in the case, said that hearing this guidance from an impartial judge tips the balance strongly in favor of the defense.
“Your Honor’s particular comment on that piece of evidence for the Crown is extremely prejudicial to the Crown’s case. And I mean, extremely damaging,” he said in an interview.
Zameer has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Northrup’s death. The officer, who was dressed in plain clothes, died on July 2, 2021, after being struck by a vehicle in an underground parking lot at Toronto City Hall.
Prosecutors say Zameer made deliberate decisions to drive dangerously while people were nearby, killing the officer. They claim Zameer drove directly toward Northrup, who they say was standing at the time.
The defense argued that Zameer had no intention of killing anyone and behaved reasonably in the face of what he thought was an imminent threat to his family when two unknown men ran up to his car and began beating him.
Zameer testified that he did not see anyone in front of his car as he drove forward. Two accident reconstruction experts, including one called by the Crown, told the court they concluded Northrup fell after the car made contact with him while reversing, and was on the ground when he was hit.
The expert called by the defense said Northrup would have been in the blind zone of the car and would not be visible to Zameer when he was on the ground.
Molloy told the jury there are three key issues at trial: whether Zameer knew that Northrup was a police officer acting in the performance of his duties, whether Northrup was standing in front of Zameer’s car when it was hit and whether Zameer knew there had been hit someone .
Molloy told jurors there are four possible verdicts in Zameer’s trial: first-degree murder, lesser included offenses of second-degree murder or manslaughter, or not guilty of any crime. She said that to find Zameer guilty of murder, jurors must determine beyond a reasonable doubt that he intentionally ran over Northrup.
Whether it is first- or second-degree murder depends on whether jurors believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Zameer knew Northrup was a police officer acting in the course of his duties.
Under the law, the murder of a police officer acting in the performance of his duties is automatically first degree, provided the accused person knew or was willfully unaware of that fact.
The jury began its deliberations on Thursday around 5:30 p.m.