Eleven were out on bail.
Nine were banned from having a firearm.
Eight were on probation.
Of the 32 people charged in a Toronto murder this year, 21 were under a court order, some multiple orders.
“In every case I’ve had this year, we’ve had to tell a victim’s family that the accused was out on bail,†said Toronto homicide Det. Stacy Gallant, who has worked on five cases this year.
“We’ve had to say we believe if this (the accused) person had been kept in jail, their son or daughter would still be alive.â€
“We’re seeing a number of murder cases where accused people are out on previous bails,†said Staff Insp. Brian Raybould, the head of the homicide squad.
“I’m not talking about theft under. They are on bail for very serious offences, firearms possession, sexual assault, violent crimes. Why are they on bail?â€
Raybould said he believes those charged with gun crimes and violent offences should not be granted bail.
The 37-year veteran said one recent case “hit me hard.â€
Last December, one month after he was released on bail, charged with 10 offences including possession of a loaded firearm, Jodie Alistaire Wheatle was charged with fatally shootx ing Danny Fatulahzadeh-Rabti.
Homicide officers have described the 25-year-old victim as an “innocent.â€
The case is still before the courts.
“That’s the type of case that cries out for a review. It is the kind of case that demands a review of the bail system,†Raybould said.
Toronto criminal defence lawyer Craig Penney agrees that those who pose a “serious†risk to society or are truly violent should be kept in custody.
But he said the premise upon which the justice system is founded is innocence until proven guilty.
Keeping people in custody until they have their day in court amounts to punishing the potentially innocent, he said.
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`It is disheartening... to see people are out on bail ... commit murder, while they are supposed to be supervised'
Det. Stacy Gallant, Toronto homicide division
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`They've already proven ...
they don't respect the court by disrespecting their order not to possess firearms and being caught again with firearms'
Deputy Police Chief Tony Warr
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“I think nobody would disagree in principle with the general proposition that you shouldn’t be punished for a crime you didn’t commit.
“Essentially, when you have no bail, that’s what happens,†Penney said.
Deputy Police Chief Tony Warr said the number of people who repeatedly disrespect the law but still get bail concerns him.
“One was on three separate firearms prohibition orders, another was on two separate orders,†he said, looking at the statistics.
“They’ve already proven . . . they don’t respect the court by disrespecting their order not to possess firearms and being caught again with firearms.
“I think once a person puts themselves in this position, the court shouldn’t have any hesitation of keeping them in custody.â€
Stricter conditions for those released on bail and serious consequences for those who breach “for the person who puts up the bail as well as those on bail themselves,†are necessary, Warr said.
With thousands of people in the city on bail, Warr said it is impossible for the police to check up on everyone.
The service does have a compliance program in some areas where officers conduct random visits to people they deem dangerous to ensure bail conditions are not being breached.
In the slaying of Kemar Brown, who was shot dead in a rooming house on July 11, the accused in that case was out on bail and under three separate firearms prohibition orders.
The man charged with fatally stabbing Dale Cheryl Mapstone on April 26 was under two probation orders and a firearms prohibition.
“It is disheartening to me as a police officer, to see people are out on bail, under court imposed orders and they commit murder, the ultimate crime, while they are supposed to be supervised, while the court has seen them fit to be released,†said Gallant.
The homicide detective said it is always difficult trying to explain to a victim’s family why an accused was out on bail at the time of a murder.
He tries to explain the rules of the courts and what a judge must consider when deciding whether to release an accused.
“We make the arrests. We present the best case we can. Then we have no control, it is out of our hands,†Gallant said.
“We need to look at greater accountability on the people who are given bail, increase the monitoring system.
“Maybe that means electronic ankle bracelets, using technology.â€
Had court orders been followed, police believe at least 21 of the city’s 44 murder victims this year may still be alive including:
