An Ontario Superior Court judge has thrown out gun charges against a black motorist after ruling a Peel Regional Police officer engaged in racial profiling, citing “systemic” problems within the police service.
Justice Renu Mandhane issued the ruling earlier this spring, which led to the collapse of a firearms prosecution case against the black male driver of a Jeep that was pulled over and searched by a Peel police officer.
“I would exclude the firearm and the accused’s utterances from being relied upon by the Crown at trial,” wrote Mandhane in her April 29 ruling. “The evidence must be excluded because systemic anti-Black racism in law enforcement undermines the administration of justice, the rule of law, and the broader social contract, and case law shows that racial profiling is a systemic and intractable problem within the Peel Regional Police Service.”…