Toronto cop pleads guilty to discreditable conduct at police hearing for eating pot edible on shift
CBC
A Toronto police officer pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of discreditable conduct at a police act hearing for eating a cannabis-infused chocolate bar that her partner had stolen during an illegal pot shop raid back in 2018.
Const. Jamie Young and her partner, Const. Vittorio Dominelli, participated in a raid on an east end dispensary on Jan. 27, 2018, according to an agreed statement of facts read out by Alex Ciobatoru, the prosecutor at Monday's hearing. That's where Dominelli stole three chocolate bar edibles and later ate one bar with Young while on shift, according to the statement of facts.
Young had originally faced criminal charges related to obstruction of justice and breach of trust. The charges were since withdrawn by the Crown.
Young pleaded guilty at the tribunal and read out a letter of apology that said she "foolishly" chose to eat the chocolate without knowing that it had been stolen.
"This was a huge mistake. In doing so, I caused great embarrassment and injury to the reputation of the service and my fellow officers, and for that I am deeply sorry," she said.
"I have had the time and opportunity to learn from this mistake and I look forward to the opportunity to again serve the public and be a productive member of the service."
Ciobatoru and Young's defence counsel, Gary Clewley, put forward a joint disposition proposing that Young receive an 18-month demotion to fourth-class constable followed by a 12-month demotion to third-class constable.
Once reinstated, Young would be required to attend Toronto Police Service college for any retraining that the service deems appropriate.
The tribunal has not yet officially ruled on that joint proposal.
Young and Dominelli carried out a search warrant at Community Cannabis Clinic, a marijuana dispensary in the city's west end, in the early evening of Jan. 27, 2018.
Dominelli stole three chocolate bar edibles, and the pair later went to a restaurant where they ate one of the bars, according to the agreed statement of facts.
Young felt pressured by Dominelli to eat the chocolate because he was her senior officer, according to the statement of facts read out by Ciobatoru.
Young later called 911 when Dominelli began to feel ill from the chocolate and he was taken to a hospital in the early hours of Jan. 28. One of the officers who came to help slipped and fell on the ice, and later suffered a concussion, Ciobatoru said.
Dominelli previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges of attempting to obstruct justice and resigned from the force in 2018.
Even for some Republicans who’ve been staunch supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump, the move by the Department of Justice to launch a criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve and its chair Jerome Powell is a red line that should not be crossed.
The effects of a low pressure system tearing through Newfoundland and Labrador are being felt across the province on Monday.
A southwestern Nova Scotia community in mourning over the death of a 13-year-old killed in a dog attack gathered on Sunday to remember the boy who loved riding his bike and used to share his lunch money with other children.
A witness in a Moncton double murder trial testified Monday that the man accused of the crimes admitted to the killings when they were in prison together.
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada’s first city budget includes an average residential property tax rate hike of nearly four per cent — beyond last year's rate of inflation — to help pay for its $7.7 billion budget.
The Tories are distancing themselves from a board member over social media comments he made after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot an American woman in Minneapolis.
A Saskatoon judge says a bus driver who mixed alcohol and pain killers while driving a charter bus with 52 children aboard posed an "outrageous" risk.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is set to join Prime Minister Mark Carney as he travels to China and meets with the country's president this week.
The lawyer representing award-winning photojournalist Amber Bracken in her lawsuit against the RCMP said police wrongly characterized Bracken as an “occupier” instead of the clearly-identified journalist that she was when they arrested at the site of a pipeline protest in northern British Columbia.
Days after Calgary’s mayor urged sparing no expense to build a replacement water main due to a pair of catastrophic breaks in 18 months, one city councillor is advising caution.
A Toronto Maple Leafs player paid tribute over the weekend to a grocery store worker and fan who died suddenly last week and is being remembered as a warm, friendly face who loved the team.
A helicopter full of researchers with the Yukon Geological Survey is scouring a remote mountain region in southwest Yukon, looking for avalanches and landslides – evidence of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that rattled the area last month.
Environmental group Greenpeace is calling for more transparency on the part of Canada's largest pulp and paper company, saying it has received millions of dollars in government funding without providing the public with details of how that money is being used or sharing its plans for the future of Canada's forests.