Jury acquits Umar Zameer as judge gives rare apology: ‘Deepest apologies for what you have been through’

Zameer broke down after the verdict was read in a tension-filled courtroom Sunday afternoon, but regained composure shortly after outside the courthouse, where he expressed gratitude to his lawyers and all of Canada.

“I think today I see that Canada didn’t let injustice happen, so I thank Canada,” the soft-spoken father of three said standing beside his “angels,” lawyers Nader Hasan and Alexandra Heine. Zameer recalled being in jail and Hasan telling him he was “dealing with the truth,” and would remain by his side.

Sunday’s verdict came after a tense and fraught few days at the downtown courthouse, during which jurors sought clarification on numerous legal concepts through notes, prompting concern among defence counsel and Zameer’s family and friends. Jurors were racially diverse and young — most appeared to be under 40. They retired to begin deliberations Thursday at 5 p.m. after listening to Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy deliver roughly nine hours of lengthy and complex legal instructions.

Some pundits had expected the verdict would be quick, so speculation grew as hours went by that the jury might not be able to come up with a unanimous verdict. But after digesting some of Molloy’s additional legal guidance Sunday morning, jurors returned around 1 p.m. to deliver their decision.

When the verdict was read out, Zameer gasped and then started crying loudly as he hugged Nader and Heine, while his wife, Aaida Shaikh, cried into the shoulders of family members seated in the body of the courtroom.

“Mr. Zameer, you’re free to go, sir,” Molloy told him.

The judge’s next comments were highly unusual.

“You have my … deepest apologies for what you have been through,” Molloy told Zameer. After that, he walked quickly to the front row of the courtroom and embraced his wife for several minutes, both weeping loudly.

Molloy also thanked jurors, telling them it had been a “long, hard haul.”

Inside the court, Northrup’s widow, Margaret Northrup, cried as she hugged members of the Toronto Police Association. Later, outside the courthouse, she thanked prosecutors Michael Cantlon and Karen Simone, and police, including Chief Myron Demkiw, and the Toronto Police Association.

“I am very disappointed in today’s outcome, from day one, all I’ve wanted was accountability,” Northrup said outside the Superior Court. “We miss Jeff every day. However, we continue on with him in our hearts, never to be forgotten, a hero in life not death.”

Demkiw paid tribute to Northrup and expressed disappointment with the verdict.

“I share the feelings of our members who were hoping for a different outcome,” Demkiw said reading a statement. TPA president Jon Reid said while the jury’s verdict will stir up many feelings, including anger and frustration, we cannot lose sight that we lost a “hero, a husband, a father and a friend.” They did not take questions from reporters.

The Crown attorneys released a statement that said that “the events surrounding his (Northrup’s) tragic death warranted a trial to determine accountability. We want to thank the jury for their dedication, attention and hard work.” The statement added: “We have great faith and respect in the justice system.”

There was no mention of an appeal.

Zameer was arrested for running over Const. Jeffrey Northrup in an underground parking lot at City Hall on July 2, 2021. Police alleged that Northrup was intentionally struck by a vehicle driven by Zameer. Northrup was working in plainclothes with other officers investigating a stabbing that evening. Zameer’s defence lawyers said the death was a tragic accident caused by panic and confusion. Zameer testified that he and his wife thought they were being ambushed by criminals when the officers rushed towards them. Police say the officers identified themselves.

The trial’s end lifts a publication ban on Justice Jill Copeland’s reasons for releasing Zameer on bail, although it was too late for him to witness the birth of his daughter.

Soon after their first meeting, Hasan won Zameer’s release, sparking internet outrage with Premier Doug Ford, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown and former Toronto mayor John Tory joining the uninformed fray without knowing Copeland’s reasons for releasing him. Ford said it was “beyond comprehension” and Tory said it was “almost impossible to imagine” why Zameer would get out of jail, a rare event for someone charged with first-degree murder of a police officer.

“The Crown’s theory — that Mr. Zameer, who the evidence supports was out for a normal family evening with his pregnant wife and young son, who has no criminal record, who has a good work and education history, suddenly decided to intentionally kill or cause bodily harm … to a police officer, runs contrary to logic and common sense,” Copeland wrote in her 53-page decision.

Copeland did suggest Zameer could potentially be found guilty of manslaughter if a jury believed he broke the law by driving dangerously. It appears jurors were wrestling with that issue over the weekend after rejecting the Crown’s case that Zameer knew Northrup was a police officer and deliberately drove at him.

The case should serve as a teaching moment for several reasons, particularly for those offering opinions before the facts of a case are known, Hasan said. The public should certainly expect more from elected officials, who, in this case stoked “the flames of hatred and reactionary tribalism.”

“When they pretend they know the facts, and the public doesn’t have access to the correct information, it’s a recipe for this kind of ill-informed, reactionary outrage,” Hasan told the Star.

Copeland in her bail decision, and during the hearing itself, questioned why Zameer would want to kill a police officer, “or anyone else for that matter.” Molloy, the trial judge, called the absence of motive the “elephant in the room.”

Throughout the case, she attacked the prosecution’s theory that supported a guilty finding on the charge of first-degree murder. Last week, she predicted the jury would reject convicting him of murder.

After the dust had settled Sunday, Hasan, an adjunct law professor at the University of Toronto, who practises criminal and civil litigation with the Toronto law firm Stockwoods LLP, said it’s remarkable to see the amount of support the Zameer family has been getting from Canadians.

He said it is a “complete 180-degree turn” from after the tragedy occurred when Zameer was subjected to an appalling amount of racist vitriol. Some directed their invective toward Hasan, who has degrees from Harvard, Cambridge and U of T.

“I would get emails from strangers saying horrific things, like ‘I hope your kids get hit by a car,’ ” the lawyer said Sunday.

Now, “we’re getting emails from strangers, the Canadian public, expressing their outrage for what Mr. Zameer has had to endure,” some asking how they can contribute to a legal defence fund. As of late Sunday afternoon, more than $50,000 had been raised on the internet toward a $200,000 goal.

“The difference between then and now is that the public knows the truth,” Hasan said.