My Rights Were Totally Violated And I Don't Know What To Do

I have visited this site for a long time now and have always maintained it as 1 of my favorites, not only for the interesting articles but because I find it an extremely intelligent forum with always well thought out analytical arguments. I have not ever post on the site, not even anonymously, I've just enjoyed being a reader. Last night however, I experienced what I believe was a violation of my rights in an ever increasing police-state, that I felt such a strong urge to create and account and share my experience.
Before I re-account the situation, I feel it is important that I give you a little character background of myself to enlighten you with as many facts of the case that I can. I am a male from Canada, university educated and have been employed since finishing university. I have always been a law abiding citizen and have never had any problems with the police force, and a completely clean driving record. My last ticket was 4 years ago, a speeding ticket, for which I was found driving 98km/h in an 80km/h, no demerit points were deducted(our demerit system is about the same as the US).
On Monday (06/09) I was driving home from work (I work 7am-3pm) the same route I have taken for the last 3 years with my spouse in the front passenger seat. In the intersection right before my condo, at this day and time, there was a traffic officer directing traffic since there was some construction taking place on the corner of one of the streets. In order to enter the underground parking of my condo, I have to make a left at this intersection in which the left hand street I am turning onto is a 1-way street. I was in the left hand turning lane observing the officer directing the some of the cars in front of me the appropriate time to turn left. As I approach the intersection with my left hand turning signal already on, and in the dedicated left hand turning lane, which has no time of day restrictions. The officer starts motioning to me to stop, not make the left and continue driving through straight the intersection. I motioned to the officer that I was trying to enter the building 50 yards down street of the left hand turn and I had to make this left. This is also really the only practical way to enter the parking garage without having to drive the wrong way down another 1-way street. While continually observing the officer, both my spouse and saw the officer finally motion allowing me to make the left hand turn, as he had with earlier cars and when it was safe to do so. I made the left and entered my building. Now keep in mind that this is Monday at about 4pm the latest.
Last night, Wednesday at 11pm, there was a banging on my condo suite door. I looked through the peephole and saw there was an officer dressed in full swat attire, minus the helmet and M-16, however he was still carrying 2 handguns, one strapped to his leg and a taser strapped to his chest. I asked him if there was a problem he indicated to me that he saw me make an illegal left hand turn on Monday afternoon. In shock that this is why he was here, I explained to him my account of the situation, as I did above, and also had my spouse, the witness, there as well to verify the account. The officer stated to my surprise that this was not the case and proceeded to enter my apartment. I objected to him in the most calmest of fashions that at this time I was not going to let him enter my apartment without a warrant. I told him I would be comfortable speaking with him the hallway, outside of my condo door. I was already uncomfortable with him from the accusations he was making. He refused to leave the apartment, and I brought up the warrant issue again, but he kept explaining the he could come in without 1. He even logged his foot under the door to ensure that it wouldn't close accidentally. From taking many undergraduate law course in university (I am not a lawyer, I work for a radio station), I knew he was violating at least 1 of my rights. He then told me he was the traffic officer on duty on Monday, and he was here at 11pm at night 2 days later, to write me 2 tickets. 1 for an illegal left hand turn and the second for disobeying a traffic officer. With both my spouse and I shocked, we both explained that we saw him direct us left, as he did with the other cars. I then explained to him, again in an extremely calm fashion, that I have never heard of anything like this happening before, and that I felt it was unjustified. I told him I would be contesting the ticket on at least the grounds that I did not believe it was unconstitutional that the ticket could be issued to more than 2 days after the incident, and the particular city I live in, traffic tickets have to be given at the scene so the officer can rightfully identify the driver. Years ago we had red-light camera system around the city, however the provincial court starting ruling them as unconstitutional since people were not being sited for the offense at the scene. Already knowing this, I thought it was very similar to what I was experiencing. Had the officer visited me on the Monday night, preferably before 11pm, I may have been more understanding, but still I knew his claims were out right false. In any case, the officer proceeded to write me both tickets, for a total of $220 Cdn and 5 demerits.
This morning, still a bit shocked from last night, I contacted a lawyer friend of mine and explained the incident. His exact words were, "In my 35 years of practice, I have never heard of such a thing happening". But as a corporate lawyer, he was not exactly sure what was violated, aside from the officer entering the apartment, but was positive some right had been violated. His advice was to contest the tickets to
I do plan to contest both tickets and set trial dates for them, but I wanted to know the opinion of other readers of this site and any suggestions they might have.

Thank you for your advice.

This happened in Canada?? That sounds like something that would happen here in America, not Canada! I lived in Canada for a year and the cops only bothered me when I bothered them. The security guards all left me alone.
It's only in America where the security guards grab you, violently drag you into the back, and torture you (happens at the Cleveland Greyhound station frequently, listing places off the top of my head), if not blow your brains out. The cops do crazy stuff, too, but it seems they don't mess with me unless I say something to them (for some odd reason).
Of course your rights were violated, but obviously there is nothing you can do, since the cop jumped in your condo and did what he wanted. I'm sure he would not do that otherwise. Your best bet would have been to not open the door... not even the MIB can step into your apartment unless you open the door (I really asked a federal public defender about this a while back, and she said "all I can tell you is not to open your door").
Why they would do something like this in Canada, considering they have relatively no crime, is beyond human thought.
Good luck with your court date, though.

I don't know what demerits mean as I'm in the U.S., but 220 is not that big of a deal. I assume demerits are either points against your driving record that can either cause you to lose your license with too many or will raise your insurance rates.

You have to fight it, but your actions on the road were selfish & stupid.

Your explanation was kind of wishy washy, you should have made clear contact with the officer first by waving your arm or sticking your head out of the window, so he would have made verbal contact and you could have had a conversation to explain where you needed to go - he may have wanted you to go around the block and approach from a different lane for some reason. Hard to say not being there.

Mistakes #2 #3. You should have never answered the door - that puts the ball in his court and causes him to jump through the appropriate legal hoops to get the ticket to you. You answered & then discussed the incident thereby letting him know you were the guilty party and that will be added to his report to be used against you.

Aside from the officer entering your condo without probable cause there was no other charter violations

In R. v. Kalanj, supra, this Court dealt with a situation in which the accused were arrested after a lengthy investigation. On the day of the arrest the accused were fingerprinted and released but were advised not to leave town, that they would be charged and that a summons would issue. More than eight months later charges were laid. This Court was invited to hold that, because of the involvement of the interests that underlie s. 11(b), it should extend to the pre-charge delay. The invasion of the interests protected by s. 11 in the broad sense could certainly be equated to the consequences of a charge. The stigma and anxiety resulting from arrest and fingerprinting would exceed the consequences flowing from laying of a charge followed by a summons. The restraint on liberty was the equivalent to that which occurs when a charge is laid and the accused is released on bail. The delay pre-trial has the same effect on the freshness of the evidence as post-charge delay. Nonetheless, this Court held that the accused were not persons charged until a formal charge was laid and that s. 11(b) did not apply. This judgment was applied in R. v. L. (W.K.), 1991 CanLII 54 (S.C.C.), [1991] 1 S.C.R. 1091, to rule out review of pre-charge delay unless the accused can establish a breach under s. 7: R. v. Potvin, 1993 CanLII 113 (S.C.C.), [1993] 2 S.C.R. 880.

www.canlii.org...
entering your condo without probable cause or consent is a major violation though.

This is really simple.Plead not guilty and fight it and make him tell his side in court.Then sue.

okay, so your a graduate that works in radio, i'm assuming your not the janitor? it's not rocket science, the media controls all. see if you can lay some pressure on the police department for explanations as part of the media, then fight the ticket and sue.

First thing to do is to make a big media circus out of your experience and to write a formal letter of complain against the officer.

Then seat and wait to see how it develops from there.

It seems that the officer saw you as an easy target for his own personal vendetta or perhaps he was in a sour mood at the time.

reply to post by pieman


Exactly sue, sue and sue, the officer, the police station and the city, sue everybody, is bound to get you somewhere.

Claim nightmares from the incident, panic attacks, get a doctor and start a record of medical complains. and your wife too.

reply to post by Mr Mxyztplk


Yeah, it does sound like the officer was overly aggressive and the OP should file a complaint immediately before the time limit expires. That will go on the officers record and while it may not amount to any immediate relief, it will let the officer know that if his behavior continues it may eventually cost him his job after too many complaints compound his record.

I doubt you can win anything because it will be your word against the officers and 99% of the time people believe officers. Opening the door may be looked at as in invitation to come in - just as you saw his movements on the street as in invitation to proceed in your car. Still you have to fight or you have to live with it and know that he will continue to push his way around if nobody does anything about it.

I agree with Marg, you should make a big media circus, sue and file formal complaint charges with the police against this joker. You can write letters to the editor to all the local papers, plus call the papers and tell them what happened, they may want to write an article. Also, you can spread this all over the internet in Canada.
Also, I'd get a good lawyer, you can ask in your lawsuit for all legal expenses to be paid by the police dept.
Just beware of other cops taking revenge on you and be careful.

Good luck, sounds like you're in for a bit of a tough spell, but it will be worth it. If it happened to me, I'd be so angry I couldn't see straight.

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
This is really simple.Plead not guilty and fight it and make him tell his side in court.Then sue.

Definitely. Don't let them get away with this. We need to start standing up to 'authority' before things get any worse.

It may indeed be the 'high road' (ie. not easy initially), but the sooner we all start taking it, the sooner they (authority) will realize that they need us as much as we need them, and perhaps we'll find a nice balance.

The more power we give, the more they take. Don't give anymore. Stand up. Even if in the short term things become difficult, the message needs to get out so that in the long term we balance out this equation (the master/slave duality).

I would contact not a corporate attorney but a personal one who is more adept at this field. I don't know how much 5 demerits will cost you in increased insurance adjustment, but it may be worth it. Most will at least hear you out at no fee. I think you need professional representation.
Good Luck.

I'd also like to hear some responses from fellow officers, if any would like to comment.
I'm very interested in what an officers opinion might be.

You might call Connie Fogal and the Canada Action Party and see what they recommend. Connie is from Saskatchewan and lives in B.C., and she practiced criminal and family law. Surely someone in her office would be able to help you find the right sort of legal support.

Also, if you have some decent folks in the NDP where you are they might be able to provide some advice. (Unfortunately, I wouldn't trust my local NDP farther than I could throw them, which is to say, not at all.) But there are really good people in NDP around Canada.

I believe that making a huge media circus, as Marg suggested above, is the only way to go. Every sort of pressure would need to be brought to bear against this officer and any authorities that support him.

www.canadianactionparty.ca...

Was he a young cop? maybe he just got his swat gear and wanted to try it out.

Try to find out if he did this to anyone else in your building or neighborhood, just because he is a cop doesn't mean he is sane.

This guy got all dressed up to go out and issue traffic citations in the middle of the night.

Not cool at all.

reply to post by verylowfrequency


You should really make up your mind in one post you say how the op was recless stupid and at fault for opening his door. Your next post you say how the cop was overly agessive and the op should file a complaint.

To the OP fight it!!

alienhunter2,

What kind of uniform was he wearing, please describe it? Did you get his badge number, name tag and/or rank?

Also, which city was all this happening in?

Hi all and thank you for your replys.

To answer your question LDragonFire, he did look like a young cop, maybe early 30's, it could have been him trying out his SWAT gear.

To Amigo -
He was wearing standard dark grey and black swat gear without the helmet. It was not completely "blacked out" in that his vest and shoulders had the words "police" and my city's emblems on its side.
This is happening in Toronto.

reply to post by alienhunter2


When I suggested Media Circus, now that I know you are in Toronto, take it to everyone even the Italian language news programme -- can't recall what it is called (don't watch television any more) but you can see what I mean. Tell everyone who will listen and even those who won't.

And if anyone tells you to roll over and play dead because it will be easier for you -- DON'T DO IT -- it won't be easier and you could find yourself in a worse situation. Fight, Scream, Rage, and Expose the fascists!

alienhunter2,

Alright, thanks, so he was an ETF (Emergency Task Force) member, though he should have had a name tag on his right chest side above/on the pocket flap.

Also, you should have been able to notice his badge number - it is printed on both shoulder epaulettes. If he had no chevrons on the left sleeve or on the epaulettes, he must have been a constable...

By the way, all ETF members are carrying Tasers so that is not unusual seeing it - they need it in their line of duty.

If you have a complaint against a TPS officer, go to their website. Specifically, visit the Professional Standards complaint page and follow accordingly.

Personally, I wouldn't bother going to any media because all they are looking for is sensationalism, and I'm afraid your story isn't sensational enough.