The Jonathan Login Case...

(The full legal decision may now be found here.)

Who Protects Us from Our Protectors?

JONATHAN LOGIN WAS SUBJECTED TO AN ARREST THAT A JUDGE DEEMED "ILLEGAL AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL" -- BUT HE FEARS HIS NIGHTMARE ISN'T OVER

by Mark Bonokoski
(re-printed from the Toronto Sun)

When the Nottawasaga OPP did its public takedown of groundhog hunter Jonathan Login almost three years ago, Insp. Mark Allen claimed his detachment's gung-ho arrest was not over the top -- despite guns being trained at Login's head as he lay face down on his own property in front of his frightened family and despite the gloved-hand anal cavity search which was conducted in full view of passersby.

"The police response was done by the book," Insp. Allen said at the time. "It was a call about a man with a gun."

After a judge's ruling last week, however, it would appear that this particular book can now be tossed in the trash.

Except the cops are not about to give up.

There is, apparently, an appeal in the works.

As reported here on Saturday, provincial court Judge Jon-Jo Douglas minced no words last Friday in delivering his decision to quash charges against Login, ruling in a point-by-point judgment that took almost three hours to finish that the Nottawasaga OPP, with the backup of military cops who also responded to the scene, had gone way too far.

"The police had not a whit of evidence to suggest (Login) was operating a firearm dangerously," said Douglas.

"The arrest was (therefore) illegal and unconstitutional."

The judge also ordered the police to quickly return Login's seized weapons -- even imposing a deadline of this Friday.

Flashback to July 2003 and the day the local newspaper -- The Innisfil Scope (circulation 1,575) -- printed a graphic re-enactment of the Nottawasaga OPP's takedown of Jonathan Login, using police jargon to report on how a "high-risk arrest using firearms" resulted after a rifle-toting man dressed in camouflage was spotted at a nearby school while a minor-league soccer game was under way.

Despite all the inherent, Columbine-like tension, however, the then 29-year-old Login ended up being charged with nothing more than careless storage of a firearm.

And this was only after his home was searched, and a partially disassembled rifle was found in the basement.

The charge, as borderline as it was, considering the gun was inoperable, had absolutely nothing to do with what Login had been doing -- which was legally hunting groundhogs on a nearby farm, and with the written permission of its owner.

It had nothing to do with the school, or the soccer game, or with the rifle that he had transported in his truck.

Not only that, Login was reportedly never closer than 300 metres to the school in question, was hunting with his rifle pointing in the opposite direction, and had packed up the moment he first noticed children arriving to play soccer.

Up in Baxter, which is a village between Alliston and Barrie, what happened to Jonathan Login was the talk of the town.

They read about it in The Innisfil Scope, and they read it here ...about how Jonathan Login returned home after his hunting excursion --his wife, Angela, and two children waiting for him in their front yard-- to find himself suddenly being converged upon by police, handcuffed and taken to the ground with guns pointed at his head, and then publicly frisked up his anal cavity by a rubber-gloved policeman.

When Login arrived home, oblivious to what was about to unfold, his wife Angela and their two young children were playing in the front yard. Their 3-year-old son, Joshua, who had a heart transplant when he was just 3 weeks old, and who must be fed on the hour through a tube to his stomach, was about to be taken inside for his medication.

No sooner had Login pulled into the driveway, however, than the road seemed filled with police cruisers and, within seconds, he was on the ground, handcuffed, and with two OPP officers pointing weapons at his head.

"Please, don't shoot. I have two kids," he pleaded.

After all the drama ended, Login claimed the only way his family could get back into their home so young Joshua could get the medication he needed, was if he signed a note giving police permission to search his house without a warrant.

Back then, Nottawasaga OPP Insp. Mark Allen denied this to be the case, indicating that even if Login had waited for a warrant -- meaning his home would be "frozen" until one was obtained -- his family still would have been able to enter the home, escorted, to feed and medicate their son.

Insp. Allen also denied Login's claim that the police frisk was "invasive," and not simply a superficial pat-down.

It seemed like overkill to many of the locals, and it didn't sit well, especially with Carl Banting, owner of the Wolf's Den, a successful archery and hunting outfitter near Baxter, who, along with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, helped raise money for Login's defence.

"Jonathan Login is a clean-cut, hard-working young lad who has the majority of the community on his side," Banting said at the time, and this comes from a veteran of 35 years in policing -- 10 with the OPP and the rest with the South Simcoe police department and First Nations police.

"We're all incensed about what happened to him. What happened to him is totally monstrous."

Jonathan Login, a skilled and licensed hunter without even a traffic infraction on his record, said during a telephone interview from his home that he now fears for his safety, not only because he has launched a civil suit against the officers involved, but because the Nottawasaga OPP do not appear to be backing down despite the judge's ruling.

"It's retarded that they are still pursuing this," he said. "All this would have been over three years ago if they had admitted their mistake and apologized -- just shake my hand.

"But now I worry about my life," he said. "I do not want to be found dead in a ditch."

Approximately a year after he was charged, Login successfully laid a private information in a Bradford court charging three Nottawasaga OPP officers -- Darrin Young, Brian Luscombe and Norman Galenzoski with offences that included pointing a firearm and assault.

Months later Crown attorney Lisa Cameron withdrew the charges, telling the court "there was no reasonable expectation of conviction."

If you would like to donate to the Jonathan Login case, please send your Donation to:

Login c/o CSSA
3 Director Crt. Unit 104
Vaughan, ON L4L 4S5

This is a very worthy cause.
(See also HelpJonathan.com)

Legal Discussion on the Login Case

Jonathan Login, his wife and children were traumatized by a high risk take down in the driveway at his home in Baxter, Ontario, after police responded to a weapons call at a school.

In fact, Jonathan had done absolutely nothing wrong, was hunting varmints with the permission and at the request of a local farmer. He had all the permits and certificates required. At the hearing it was acknowledged that he had done absolutely nothing wrong.

Why then did the multitude of police officers not clue into this reality in a reasonably expeditious manner?

In spite of his being handcuffed and patted down, police continued to train firearms on him, pointed a firearm briefly at his wife and children, strip searched him in public, detained him for a lengthy period of time without lawful authority, arrested him for something to which the Judge concluded was groundless (dangerous weapon) and conducted a search of his residence that was both unconstitutional and illegal.

As a result of the search, a partially dismantled .22 rifle and some ammunition was determined to be unsafely stored and charges were laid.

Collingwood, Ontario lawyer Paul Shaw and his partner Brian McLellan successfully defended Jonathan Login by going on the offensive with charter applications alleging numerous Charter breaches and illegal police conduct. The charges were laid on May 27, 2003. Justice J.J.A. Douglas threw them out on February 10, 2006 in a 54 page decision where he was highly critical of police conduct.

Things went very wrong right from the dispatcher who totally over reacted. She turned a question from a soccer coach (is it legal for this guy to be shooting his gun in this area) into a "weapons call at a school."

The Judge criticized the dispatcher's failure to make any material inquiry as to what (Login) was doing and why, failed to keep the caller on the line to monitor the situation and be better able to assist responding officers.

The Judge then criticized the police in their failure while en route to make inquiries of the criminal activity to which they were responding. It was a fire power first, discussion later mentality. He criticized their apparent lack of training in assessing risk, in the chain of command and in investigative fairness. When police respond (in Ontario) to certain alleged offences (intra familial violence, child abuse, sexual assault and others (eg weapons) "the common investigative practice is simply, if generally to effect an arrest on the word of a complainant."

Justice Douglas observed that the investigating officer's personal assessment (subjective belief) must be combined with an equally high regard for the principle of fair and balanced consideration of all of the objectively available information.

The Judge concluded that the police did not have a wit of evidence that an offence had been committed yet they continued to detain Jonathan, charged him initially for a charge (weapons dangerous) for which there was no foundation, strip searched him in public and illegally searched his residence.

This was a time consuming, complex and expensive case with over 15 court appearances over thirty-three months. It has been monstrously expensive, well over $100,000.00. While a civil suit has already been instituted it too can be expensive and financial recovery in many cases falls far short of the cost of the legal defence.

The Login case should be a wake up call to law enforcement. There are legitimate uses for firearms by law abiding citizens and this needs to be assessed in any police response. It should not have required a rocket scientist to realize quickly that Jonathan was properly conducting himself in a lawful activity. There was no illegal conduct at Baxter. Jonathan should have been expeditiously released with an apology. The heavy handed tactics of the police, the lack of direction and absence of a proper chain of command led to the situation getting totally out of hand.

The Login decision should help put perspective into future police responses. Police should be prepared for the "worst" but be prepared to make an independent analysis based on facts obtained and react accordingly. The law requires it. Society expects it.

(Paul Shaw is past president of the Shooting Federation of Canada, is an avid trapshooter having represented Canada in the 1996 Olympics and has been named seven times to the ATA All American team. Brian McLellan does not own firearms, but along with Paul is a strong supporter of Canada's firearm heritage and upholding citizen's constitutional guarantees).