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.