Guilty or not, man goes free

Courtney Salmon was well known to police. He had been charged at least twice with youth prostitution offences but had avoided conviction. The police thought Salmon had “got away with it” and they wanted him convicted.

So the police were very interested when a 17 year old told them she had been lured into prostitution by Salmon. The 17 year old told the police that Salmon had obtained false identification for her showing her to be over 18 years old. This ID allowed her to work as a stripper and in sex clubs in the Brampton area. She gave the fake ID to a Detective Sergeant who noted receipt of the materials; shortly thereafter Salmon was arrested.

But once again it looked like Salmon was going to “get away with it”. The 17 year old was not going to testify and so the only evidence against Salmon was to come from police.

And it seems they made sure their evidence was good.

The fake ID that had been surrendered to police by the 17 year old was noted as being found in Salmon’s wallet on arrest. Of course, that was impossible if the ID was already in police custody. Nevertheless, the police noted the fake ID being in Salmon’s wallet on arrest.

Finding the fake ID in Salmon’s wallet was a key piece of evidence for the prosecution. It tied Salmon to the 17 year old and suggested he had some measure of control over her and that he was involved in some way in a deception as to her age.

The trouble was that the notes of the Detective Sergeant who took the fake identification into his possession came to light just before the start of trial and the police officer who said he found the fake ID in Salmon’s wallet suddenly realized, while testifying, that he had been confused.

An Ontario Superior Court judge, on hearing this evidence, and on learning of a number of surprising memory lapses by police regarding who had the fake ID found that the police “concocted a scheme to make it appear that the false identification of the [17 year old] was found in Mr. Salmon’s wallet.” The Court went so far as to say the scheme was proven to “beyond reasonable doubt”.

Now, it is entirely appropriate for the police to keep an eye out for people they know or suspect are criminals. Youth prostitution is one of the most heinous of crimes and people who inveigle youths into prostitution must be dealt with according to law. But that last part is worth repeating – according to law. Canada is founded on the integrity and honor of its duly appointed authorities. Canadians trust police because they know, in Canada, the police are worthy of trust. That’s why, when the trust is broken, consequences must follow.

Of course, police misbehavior does not excuse criminal wrongdoing. Indeed, contrary to the American position, in Canada prior to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, police misconduct had little or no effect on the prosecution of offences. Salmon’s case would have been decided on the basis of the evidence that had not been concocted – and, as a practical matter, absent the fake ID in the wallet, Salmon would likely have been acquitted.

That said, the judge chose to say that this was a case where, regardless of the other evidence, the charges must be stayed. He wrote “it would be difficult to conceive of conduct that would more distinctly shock the conscience of the community than the fabrication of evidence by the police. If it occurs, I cannot conceive of any remedy short of a stay of proceedings that would suffice.” In effect, the police misconduct rendered the prosecution void.

Certainly where there is fabrication of evidence there is a very serious risk of a wrongful conviction. Courts, quite rightly, rely upon police to give truthful and accurate evidence. If police create false evidence the entire basis for the criminal system is destroyed.

Regardless of whether Salmon had actually lured the 17 year old into prostitution was not an issue for the Court – rather the Court stayed the prosecution so as to protect the underlying integrity of the justice system. Of course, the ironic result is that the police will certainly believe that Salmon, yet again, got away with it.