Lenience sought for gun-toting man unconstitutionally stopped by Windsor police

The lawyer for a man who was found to be carrying a handgun and drugs in Windsor says his sentence should be mitigated because his Charter rights were violated.

FEATURED PHOTO: The .32-calibre revolver and ammunition found on the person of Omar Muhammad Omar while he was walking on a street in Windsor is seen on Nov. 19, 2015. PHOTO BY TYLER BROWNBRIDGE /Windsor Star

Written by Dalson Chen on April 28, 2017

The lawyer for a man who was found to be carrying a handgun and drugs in Windsor says his sentence should be mitigated because his Charter rights were violated.

Omar Muhammad Omar, 22, is facing potentially five years in prison on the offences of carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a firearm while prohibited (two counts), careless storage of a firearm, and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

During the early morning hours of Nov. 19, 2015, Omar and another man were stopped by Windsor police near Richmond Street and Walker Road.

A search of Omar uncovered a loaded antique-style .32-calibre revolver, extra ammunition, and eight grams of cocaine.

Read the full article: Windsor Star

NO EVIDENCE TO PROCEED IN TRIAL ARGUES DEFENCE IN BOOM BOOM ROOM SHOOTING

The defence for two men charged in a downtown Windsor shooting has argued there isn’t forensic evidence to proceed with the trial.

FEATURED PHOTO: Shadrack Amankwa walks out of Superior Court in Windsor. April 5, 2017 (Photo by Teresinha Medeiros)

Written by Teresinha Medeiros on April 5, 2017

The defence for two men charged in a downtown Windsor shooting has argued there isn’t forensic evidence to proceed with the trial.

22-year-old Kevin Nyadu and 26-year-old Shadrack Amankwa, both of Brampton, are charged in the October 2014 shooting at the Boom Boom Room where a bouncer was shot.

Devonte Pierce was shot in the back and survived.

Nyadu is charged with attempted murder and weapons charges.

Amankwa is charged was accessory to commit attempted murder along with weapons charges.

Read the full article: AM800 CKLW, iHeartRADIO

Offenders with mental illness pose ‘unique challenges’ to justice system

For some people with mental illness, getting arrested is a godsend, Brown said. Now, there will be a psychological assessment and probation officers arranging for counselling and treatment.

Written by Sarah Sacheli on April 17, 2017

In a scene that could have been pulled from The Silence of the Lambs, seven police officers usher a handcuffed man into a Windsor courtroom.

The man has been made to wear a mesh hood with clear plastic over his face.

He has mental health issues and spits when agitated, Ontario court Justice Micheline Rawlins explains to the courtroom in the moments before the man enters.

He also smears his feces on the walls when he’s in jail, she adds.

“This is the reality we deal with every day,” said Patricia Brown, a defence lawyer with a mental health practice.

For some people with mental illness, getting arrested is a godsend, Brown said. Now, there will be a psychological assessment and probation officers arranging for counselling and treatment.

Read the full article: Windsor Star

International student gets jail sentence after sex assault conviction

An international student from Ghana, who attended the University of Windsor, is at risk of deportation.

File photo of the Superior Court of Justice in Windsor, Ont., Nov.19, 2013. (Melanie Borrelli / CTV Windsor)

Written on January 31, 2017

An international student from Ghana, who attended the University of Windsor, is at risk of deportation.

Francis Yaw Tweneboah-Koduah was sentenced to 26 months in jail following a conviction of sexual assault.

Read the full article: CTV News Windsor

JUDGE RULES CHARTER RIGHTS OF ACCUSED BREACHED BY WINDSOR POLICE

A key piece of evidence will be excluded when the trial resumes for two men charged in a downtown Windsor shooting.

22-year-old Kevin Nyadu and 26-year-old Shadrack Amankwa, both of Brampton, are charged in the October 2014 shooting at the Boom Boom Room where a worker was shot.

The work suffered non-life threatening injuries.

A judge ruled today that Nyadu’s Charter of Rights was breached because Windsor police did not act upon Nyadu’s right to speak to a lawyer in a timely manner prior to a gunshot residue test.

The test found there was gunshot residue on three spots Nyadu’s hand but with the charter breach, the results can’t be used in trial.

Nyadu’s lawyer Patricia Brown says Windsor police failed to give Nyadu access to a phone.

“He did find that his rights were given but an accused while they are in custody also has a right to access counsel, that right can only be facilitated by the officers in the holding facility or the officers who are detaining them,” said Brown.

“He (Nyadu) was not allowed to contact a lawyer or speak to counsel until after they took that evidence from him.”

The judge found there was a “fundamental inattention to the charter rights” for Nyadu.

The trial resumes in April.

Nyadu is charged with attempted murder along with weapons offences while Amankwa is charged with accessory to commit attempted murder and other weapons offences.

Evidence in Boom Boom Room shooting thrown out over charter violation

Gunshot residue collected from the hands of a man accused of shooting the bouncer at a downtown nightclub in 2014 cannot be used as evidence in his trial, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The Boom Boom Room at 315 Ouellette Ave., is pictured on Oct. 5, 2014 — the day of an early morning shooting. PHOTO BY DAX MELMER /Windsor Star

Written by Dylan Kristy on February 1, 2017

Gunshot residue collected from the hands of a man accused of shooting the bouncer at a downtown nightclub in 2014 cannot be used as evidence in his trial, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Superior Court Justice J. Paul Howard ruled that Windsor police did not provide Kevin Mantley Nyadu with access to legal counsel within a reasonable amount of time after his arrest — violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Nyadu was arrested on Oct. 5, 2014, at a parking lot on Victoria Avenue at Park Street not long after Windsor police responded to reports of a shooting at the Boom Boom Room at 2:37 a.m.

Read the full article: Windsor Star

FORMER UWINDSOR STUDENT APPEALING CONVICTION ON SEX ASSAULT

A 20-year-old former University of Windsor student is out on bail as he appeals his conviction on a count of sexual assault.

FEATURED PHOTO: Lawyer Patricia Brown (photo by AM800’s Peter Langille)

Written on Tuesday, January 31, 2017

A 20-year-old former University of Windsor student is out on bail as he appeals his conviction on a count of sexual assault.

Francis Tweneboah-Koduah was sentenced to 26 months in jail by the trial judge and is ordered to give a DNA sample to be on the sex offender registry for 20 years.

Read the full article: AM800 CKLW, iHeartRADIO

Bar manager denies offering bribe to employee shot in back

The general manager of the Boom Boom Room at the time of an October 2014 shooting vehemently denied Wednesday that he offered any bribe to the victim to say the shooting happened outside the club.

FEATURED PHOTO BY NICK BRANCACCIO/WINDSOR STAR

Written by Chris Thompson on December 7, 2016

The general manager of the Boom Boom Room at the time of an October 2014 shooting vehemently denied Wednesday that he offered any bribe to the victim to say the shooting happened outside the club.

Renaldo Agostino, whose twin brother Remo owned the club when usher Devonte Pierce was shot, repeatedly denied in court an accusation by Pierce that the brothers had visited his hospital room and attempted to bribe him.

Defence lawyer Julie Santarossa suggested that Renaldo and his brother had offered $350 for Pierce to change his story, and Agostino became agitated.

Read the full article: Windsor Star

For update seeEvidence in Boom Boom Room shooting thrown out over charter violation

Crown seeks 30-month prison term for rape at university dorm party

Why her? Through tears, the father of a rape victim repeated that question of his daughter’s attacker during a hearing in a Windsor courtroom Monday.

Why her?
Through tears, the father of a rape victim repeated that question of his daughter’s attacker during a hearing in a Windsor courtroom Monday.
“Why? Why did you choose my daughter?”
It was Sept. 6, 2014, during Welcome Week at the University of Windsor. There was a floor party in the residence where the girl lived. She was 17 and had been on campus for all of 10 days.
Her dad told the court Monday that he knows what it is to be a teenager, to taste the freedom that comes with living away from home for the first time.
“Like young people … she drank. She drank too much.”
Francis Yaw Tweneboah-Koduah was also in his first year at the University of Windsor. He was an international student from Ghana.
At 18, he had been in the country for less than a month.
The father said TweneboahKoduah “spotted his prey” at the floor party. After some conversation, Tweneboah-Koduah picked the girl up in his arms and carried her to his dorm room. As she fell in and out of consciousness, he had intercourse with her. When he was done, he left her passed out on the blood-stained sheets and returned to the party.
Superior Court Justice J. Paul Howard convicted TweneboahKoduah of sexual assault after a trial earlier this year. While Tweneboah-Koduah testified the girl was a willing participant in the sexual activity, Howard found she was too drunk to consent.
Witnesses testified to the girl’s inebriation and court saw the incoherent text messages she sent friends from the party.
At Tweneboah-Koduah’s sentencing hearing Monday, assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Holmes said she is seeking a penitentiary sentence of 30 months. Court heard the girl was a virgin and that Tweneboah-Koduah gave her herpes for which she will take antiviral medication forever.
Defence lawyer Patricia Brown argued for a lesser sentence of 12 to 18 months behind bars. She said the criminal conviction alone will bring collateral punishment for Tweneboah-Koduah, who is now at York University studying actuarial science. “It places him in a difficult situation with regards to his immigration status.”
Tipping her hand that Tweneboah-Koduah intends to appeal his conviction, Brown said: “My client maintains his innocence.”
Holmes drew parallels between this case and that of NHL hopeful Ben Johnson convicted in September of having sex with an intoxicated girl in a washroom stall of a downtown nightclub in 2013. Johnson, who has filed an appeal and is again free on bail, was sentenced to three years in prison.
Court heard that TweneboahKoduah’s victim finished out her first year in Windsor. She now attends a new school where she is on the dean’s list.
A court order prohibits publication of any information that would identify her.
The judge has reserved his decision on sentencing until Jan. 31.

For update seeFORMER UWINDSOR STUDENT APPEALING CONVICTION ON SEX ASSAULT

Defence argues against mandatory sentence

A mentally ill and impaired driver who was involved in a crash was given the mandatory four-month sentence despite arguments by his defence lawyer in Sarnia court.

FEATURED PHOTO CREDIT: THE SARNIA OBSERVER

Written by Neil Bowen on March 22, 2016

A mentally ill and impaired driver who was involved in a crash was given the mandatory four-month sentence despite arguments by his defence lawyer in Sarnia court.

David Stewart Gamble, 60, of Sarnia previously pleaded guilty to the Aug. 7, 2014 care or control of a vehicle while impaired by drugs and alcohol, along with driving while disqualified. But sentencing was delayed until Monday.

On Monday, Gamble pleaded guilty to driving without insurance on Aug. 7.

Read the full article: The Sarnia Observer