OPP officer charged with criminal negligence

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OPP officer charged with criminal negligence

Postby Thomas » Tue Sep 18, 2012 9:43 am

Officer pleads not guilty to criminal negligence charge

Trial begins for Thunder Bay OPP Sergeant Darryl Storey

Thunder Bay OPP Sergeant Darryl Storey has pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal negligence causing death after a fatal motor vehicle collision in December 2008.

The trial — which began in Thunder Bay Superior Court Monday — came after the police’s Special Investigations Unit found reasonable grounds to believe the officer was criminally responsible for the death of 18-year-old Jasmine Veneruzzo of Murillo, Ontario.

Jasmine Veneruzzo was killed in a car collision Dec. 3, 2008. Photo: Everest Funeral Home Web site
On Dec. 3, 2008 there was a collision at Highway 11/17 and Twin City Crossroads between an OPP police car driven by Storey and a car driven by Veneruzzo, who sustained fatal injuries in the crash.

Neither the Crown nor the defence gave opening statements at the trial, which is being heard by a judge, without a jury.

The Crown called four witnesses before court recessed for lunch. The witnesses all said they saw an unmarked police car in the area that morning, being driven at a noticeably high rate of speed, without its lights or siren activated.

A woman, who was driving her child to school that morning, said she had never seen a car accelerate that rapidly.

All four witnesses said the car was driving without warning lights or a siren.

Two of the witnesses testified that minutes later they came across the scene of the accident, and noticed an unmarked police car was involved. They said they thought it was the same car, but upon cross-examination by Storey's defence lawyer, could not confirm the exact colour of the vehicle, except that it was a dark shade.

Three weeks have been set aside for the trial.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-b ... trial.html
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Re: OPP officer charged with criminal negligence

Postby Thomas » Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:54 am

Officer pleads guilty to 1 charge in fatal crash

A Thunder Bay provincial police officer has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death for his role in a 2008 two-vehicle collision that killed an 18-year-old woman.

Sgt. Darryl Storey entered his plea on Tuesday at Superior Court in Thunder Bay, more than two weeks into his trial for dangerous driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death.

Storey maintained his not guilty plea to the latter charge.

The charges stem from a collision between Storey’s unmarked OPP cruiser and another car at the intersection of Highway 11/17 and Twin City Crossroad in December 2008. Storey was on duty at the time of the crash.

Jasmine Veneruzzo, 18, who was driving the other car, was killed.

Storey’s guilty plea was accepted by Toronto Crown prosecutor James Palangio, as well as Superior Court Justice Casimir N. Herold, who’s from Guelph, who is presiding over the trial.

Storey is to return to court in January for a sentencing hearing. He is not in custody.

Storey was charged following a Special Investigations Unit probe into the collision.

In court on Tuesday, Storey’s lawyer Leo Kinahan — who declined an interview request after court had adjourned — said his client was in charge of the Thunder Bay OPP detachment’s fleet, a position he’d held for eight months after being transferred from regular duty due to post traumatic stress disorder.

The details of Storey’s disorder weren’t revealed, save that it was work-related.

Storey was testing the cruiser, which had just been repaired at a Thunder Bay garage. Witnesses during the trial’s earlier days testified Storey was travelling at a high rate of speed on Highway 11/17.
Kinahan said the Veneruzzo was travelling south on Twin City Crossroad and didn’t come to a full stop at the intersection with the highway. Storey couldn’t avoid the car and collided with it at high speed, Kinahan said.

Herold said in court, “whether or not Ms. Veneruzzo came to a complete stop . . . she didn’t have a chance” given the way Storey was driving.

Kinahan said his client was changing his plea because the Crown’s case against him for the dangerous driving charge was strong.

Herold agreed, saying that based on the Crown’s case to that point, a conviction on that charge was “almost a certainty.”

But, Herold said later, based on Storey’s explanation for his “stupid and criminal conduct,” a reasonable doubt could be raised as to the criminal negligence charge.

In accepting the guilty plea, Palangio said such pleas are generally best entered before trials begin, so as to not take up the court’s time or put friends and family of the victim through difficult days reliving terrible incidents.

A guilty plea, he added, allows for a “finality” to the proceedings, with no uncertainty as to the accused’s guilt.

Storey did not address the court on Tuesday.

He entered his plea and assured the court he was doing so voluntarily.

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/content ... atal-crash
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Re: OPP officer charged with criminal negligence

Postby Thomas » Fri Sep 28, 2012 3:21 pm

Thunder Bay OPP officer receives pay after guilty plea

Sgt. Darryl Storey’s salary continues four years after incident that killed a teen

An OPP officer in Thunder Bay continues to be paid his full salary after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing death.

Sgt. Darryl Storey will receive his pay right up until his sentencing in January, more than four years after an 18 year old woman was killed when the police car Storey was driving collided with her vehicle.

The Police Services Act in Ontario requires police services to continue to pay officers who have been charged criminally. It’s a policy that the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police wants to change.

Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police president Stephen Tanner said they are asking the province to give chiefs discretion to suspend an officer without pay. (Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police)
“I think there’s quite an uproar when people are reading the newspaper or hearing it on the TV and radio that an officer is suspended for two, three, four, sometimes five years with pay,” association president Stephen Tanner said. "I think they properly question why that is.”

Tanner said the cases that are most often questioned by the public involve police officers charged criminally for off-duty behaviour or for the most serious crimes such as murder.

The association is asking the province to give chiefs discretion to suspend an officer without pay in those cases.

Pay could be re-instated if officer found not guilty

Tanner said if the officer is found not guilty, his or her pay could be re-instated after the court decision.

But the head of the Ontario Provincial Police Association said that goes against the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

The head of the Ontario Provincial Police Association, Jim Christie, says a small minority of officers benefit from a suspension with pay. (Ontario Provincial Police Association)
Jim Christie said police have a unique job, where they need to make split-second, life-or-death decisions and they need a certain financial security to do that. He said it’s a small minority of officers who might benefit from a suspension with pay.

“But I would rather have that than the majority of officers second-guessing their decisions when doing their day-to-day duties for fear of being suspended without pay and losing their house,” Christie said.

‘Nobody wants to be suspended’

Tanner is concerned that paying officers while they’re going through the court system, may encourage their lawyers to drag the cases out. Tanner said, on average, a first class constable earns about $100,000 in wages and benefits per year.

“As long as you continue to pay every two weeks, there really isn’t much onus in some instances for the officer or for their lawyers to get into court to get the matter dealt with,” Tanner said.

The time on suspension also contributes to the police officer’s pension. But the OPPA's Christie said it’s unreasonable to think that people would prolong a difficult court case.

“I have colleagues and close friends on the job who have been charged criminally and they want the investigation to be done as thoroughly and as quickly as possible so they can get back to work with as minimum fuss, “ Christie said. “Nobody wants to be suspended, nobody wants to be away from doing their job.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-b ... e-pay.html
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Re: OPP officer charged with criminal negligence

Postby Thomas » Sat Jan 19, 2013 1:09 pm

OPP officer to spend two years in prison following fatal accident

Sergeant Darryl Storey was driving a police vehicle that collided with a car driven by 18 year old Jasmine Veneruzzo in 2008

Brenda Veneruzzo says she's satisfied with the sentence handed down to the man who was found responsible for her daughter's death.

Jasmine Veneruzzo, 18, was killed instantly when OPP Sergeant Darryl Storey's police cruiser collided with her vehicle in 2008.

Jasmine Veneruzzo was killed in a car collision Dec. 3, 2008 Everest Funeral Home
Her mother asked the court today for the “maximum sentence” for Storey, who was ordered to serve two years in prison. Veneruzzo praised the judge for the message the sentence sends.

“Someone will see the sentence and what has happened to this gentleman and they will think twice about speeding to save the next life,” she said.

In Superior Court Friday, the crown and defence submitted a joint submission and, around 1:30 p.m., Justice Casimir Herold rendered his decision.

Three benches full of Veneruzzo family and friends awaited the officer’s sentence.

Storey committed one of the most serious crimes in the criminal code, Herold said, tragically ending a promising life in an instant.

While criminal law does not restore a life, criminal law can impose a sentence appropriate to the circumstances, the judge added.

“Storey miserably and tragically failed to serve and protect,” Herold continued.

The judge considered Storey's post traumatic stress disorder as a mitigating factor in sentencing. He said Veneruzzo’s death was not in vain if it helped to push the issue of PTSD in police officers to the forefront.

Storey was given a two-year sentence, which the judge recommended be served in the minimum security Beaver Creek prison in Gravenhurst.

Storey handed the court his licence as he was escorted by police officers from the room.

Herold praised the Veneruzzo family for their composure as they sat quietly while the sentence was rendered.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-b ... rdict.html
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